Marshall's Madness
by Daesaster
Summary: "Marshall knows something's up when Gumball lures her away from the party. He can't seem to place it, but everything's been weird since. He can't sort his feelings out, and to make matters worse, the vampires are in need of a Queen." This is the abridged version of my other story, Cold Criticism. Rated T because I'm paranoid. REVIEW. JUST DO IT.
1. Chapter 1: Confrontations

Marshall straightened his red plaid shirt and checked his teeth. He ran a hand through his hair to make sure it was sitting right. Everything looked good. He headed off to go to the Bi-Annual Gumball Ball. It sounded like it should be fun, but generally parties in castles were for the prim and proper. He was surprised to get an invite, but there was no way Marshall was going to get any more formal than he normally was. People were flocking around the entrance to the castle. The door was tall, so Marshall floated between the green curtains just above the crowd. The large hall was decorated nicely with pink and purple banners, tables full of candy, and Jelly Kinders stuck to the ceiling. Did PG authorize this? He surely knew that they were alive… Marshall smiled. Gumball tells everybody that he's sane, but when you get close you can see the truth. Marshall floated up above the crowd, right beside the talking piñata named Mandy.

"Hey Marshall. It's been a long time since you've been inside the castle."She said with a nasal voice. Marshall turned to her.

"Mandy? Glob, it's been a while, hasn't it?" He started floating around on his back. "Time passes quickly when you get to be my age."

"Why did you stop visiting? You were the only one that could get up here to visit me. It seems everyone else has forgotten about me." Marshall floated up in front of her.

"Sorry. It's just that me and Gumball sort of…" He struggled to explain.

"Why don't you go enjoy the party? I'll just hang around." She gave a cheery smile, but he knew the pain of being forgotten. Quite well.

"Hey! It's like, Marshall Lee! Get your lumps down here!" Lumpy Space Prince had managed to alert the entire party of his presence, so he had to come down and socialize.

"LSP, sup?" Marshall didn't know LSP very well, but he tried not to be awkward. LSP was the worst person to be awkward around. They talked for a while about idle things like relationships and new cell phones and Lumpy Space.

"Hey! You weren't invited!" Mandy yelled from the ceiling. Then Marshall's blood went cold. Another supernatural being was in the room. That could only mean…her. White hair, black ragged clothes that were 'cool'.

"Marshall! I wasn't sure if you were going to be here." Ashley. The one that ruined his life.

"Hey." He gently grabbed her hand. "Why don't we get some snacks?" The party continued when everybody saw that it was no big deal. He walked her over to the corner of the room where the tables of food were. He offered her a doughnut. She accepted it and took a medium bite out of it. "So, why are you here?"

"To see **you**, of course. I haven't seen you in a while…" She smiled her devilish smile. The one that Marshall could never forget.

"That's because I hate you. Or… don't you remember?" He said with his usual cynicism.

"Oh, you're not still mad about that, are you? I just wanted to see you again." Marshall clenched his fists.

"No, of course not. You only tried to reprogram me into thinking that you weren't shallow and desperate. Why would I _possibly_ hate you?!"

"I was saving our relationship. Isn't that the point of all this…love?" Ashley was stroking Marshall's back. He violently pushed her away. "Oh, calm down LeeLee. You know you'd do anything for me, after all I did for _you_." She smiled. He grabbed her wrists and leaned in close.

"_You_ almost trapped me in eternal slumber. _You_ let a human girl see all of my _private _memories. _You_ sold my entire world for a _magic stick_." He stared furiously into her eyes. She was afraid. He kept his voice down, so that he wouldn't attract attention. He knew that she would still be able to hear him. "I don't owe you anything after the way you treated me. I am a King, _you_ do not control me!" Ashley was the type who yells when she gets nervous.

"JERKWAD! I JUST WANT TO BE WITH YOU!" Ashley screeched in a fit of rage, flailing to get out of his grip. He was stronger than her because he was older, but she was throwing a tantrum. The break up must've damaged her mind or something because this wasn't the Ashley he remembered. The cool, calm exterior was nowhere to be found. By this point everyone in the castle was looking, murmuring.

Prince Gumball rushed into the room."What the junk is going on in here?"

Marshall looked up and saw everyone staring.

"She's not on the list, sir." Mandy stated bluntly. The vampire was slightly embarrassed, but he was the King of his court. Composing himself, he let go of her and replied.

"You have an uninvited guest. She isn't welcome here." Ashley's face was still fear-stricken. There was a collective expression of confusion amongst the crowd. "Gumball, would you tell your…" Marshall stifled a laugh at the banana halves on Popsicle sticks that passed for security. "…Guards… to remove her?" Understanding crossed the prince's face. He signalled his guard and they grabbed Ashley.

"LeeLee…" She was in tears. It was a wonderful sight.

"Ash, I never want to see you in this realm again."

She struggled against the guards and flew into a fit of rage."MARSHALL!"

Marshall grinned at the sight. The guards had to bind her hands with licorice rope and drag the screeching girl out by her feet. Once she was no longer heard, the party lost interest and continued.

"Was that…" Gumball inquired as he approached Marshall.

"Yeah. The psycho-jerk girlfriend." Marshall released his posture and began to float again. "Glad that's over with. I don't think I could take another minute being all…diplomatic like **you**." Marshall floated around Gumball, poking him.

"Hey! I-" Marshall clamped a hand over his mouth, using the other hand's pointer finger as a fake mustache for himself. He put his nose in the air, and stood perfectly straight.

"Yes…indubitably…" Gumball pulled Marshall's hand away from his mouth.

"Bullgunk! I'm not like that! I act like a prince, unlike _some_ people." Gumball crossed his arms. Marshall began levitating again.

"Blaah, Blaah, Blaah. I'm a King, and I do what I want." Gumball rolled his eyes and began socializing with the rest of the party, his bright pink everything standing out in the crowd. Marshall figured he should do the same.

Marshall floated around, socializing with random guests. He was floating backwards, and as he faced the green curtain, Fionna opened it. She was wearing a fancy white dress with ribbons and gold, but she was still wearing her rabbit hat. Cake had probably made her wear the dress, but Fionna was stubborn. She was wearing that hat if she wanted to. Marshall wondered why she was so dressed up. She was probably here with PG. Fionna waved at the vampire. Marshall stuck out his tongue and held up his thumb, pointer, and pinky fingers to show his approval. He floated around the back of the crowd, where Gumball was talking with Cinnamon bun about… something. Cinnamon bun could be very hard to understand at times.

Gumball was fairly happy to see Fionna. Marshall's vampire senses also told him that Fionna's cheeks were flush, and her heart was fluttering. Did something happen between those two? Marshall usually wouldn't care about that sort of stuff, but his interest had been sparked. Fionna hadn't even come over to say hello. Even though he was participating in another conversation with LSP and the Gumdrop Guys, he was straining his ears over the noise to hear what Gumball had to say. "I've been looking for you."

"Well…here I am!" She sounded nervous. Gumball gave an obnoxiously loud laugh. She should be. He could be a bit creepy.

"Hey, I wanna show you something." Creepy. Fionna agreed, and Cake whooped in approval.

"Ooooo! Okay, girl. I'll see ya later!" Cake joined the festivities, and she was a party animal. Though Cake was the one leading the soda shots and starting group dances, she wasn't the one he was really waiting around to hang out with. He didn't mind Cake, but they never really clicked. They just didn't have the same interests or sense of humor. Fionna was the only true friend he had left, but he liked to let her think that he had more. He was beginning to get annoyed, as LSP never shut up and wouldn't leave him alone. So he decided to head back home. He missed his guitar, anyway.

**[Guys, I don't know enough about what you think of this story. Feedback! I require feedback! Parts you like, parts that need improving... Was someone out of character? In the later chapters, I don't think I'm getting the characters correct. Gimmie some rope, here.]**


	2. Chapter 2: Hot and Cold

Marshall picked up his guitar. He loved it as if it was his child. When his sock monkey Hamba was taken from him, he'd replaced it with his guitar. Marshall experienced déjà vu, thinking this thought while looking for his guitar pick. He didn't want to be reminded of Ashley, so he just began to play with his fingers. He wanted to play something he hadn't written himself. He began to sing. "What am I to you? Am I a joke, your knight, or your sister? What am I to you? Do you look down on me 'cause I'm littler? Do you think that I don't understand? I just wanted us to be together and to play as a band. I'll forget that I lost a piece of your hair, I'll remember the pasta that we shared, over there!" He stopped playing because one of his strings was out of tune. As he was adjusting the pitch, he thought about last week, when Fionna made up that song. How Fionna's song was the one that opened the door. It was frustrating to Marshall, as he almost succeeded, but accidentally dropped his song and lost it. It was the most fun he'd had in a while, because he got to bug Gumball and hang with Fionna at the same time.

He was about to start playing the song again, when Ice Queen knocked on the door. She had flown her drumkit and keyboard over to Marshall's house again in the hopes that they could practice her song. She thought Marshall was the coolest person in Aaa, apart from herself. Ice queen thought that they made a decent team. Marshall groaned as he floated over to the door. He knew it was Ice Queen because his blood turned cold, as was hers. Although he enjoyed her company, he wished that she would remember him. She was important to him, but she couldn't seem to remember exactly how. She kept trying to hook up with him. But he put on his best smile and opened the door. "Simone. I wasn't expecting you here."

"Sa-what?" Ice Queen puzzled for a few seconds. "Me! Sorry." A big oaf in a big blue dress.

"I thought you'd be trying to crash the Gumball ball."

"Didn't feel like it." By how quickly she answered, Marshall assumed that she already had. He was sure that she was here to heal her ego, so he didn't delve any farther. It was generally the same story; She lost, Fionna won.

"Well, you have perfect timing. I just finished tuning my guitar." He gestured inside. She smiled as she lugged the heavy equipment awkwardly over the door frame. Sometimes Marshall was glad that he played the guitar instead of the drums. She untied the bundle of hardware and many of the arms and legs of the drumkit were stuck in a tangle of metal. "Here, I'll help you." Marshall began by moving the keyboard onto its stand and out of the way. In the ten seconds it took him to do that, the Queen had managed to tangle her dress in the bundle of cheap drums.

" Hey Marshall…"

"I thought I said that I was going to help you." He removed a wing nut, allowing one piece of equipment to slide. He pulled it out of the mess and the pieces all scattered on the floor, freeing her dress.

"Thanks. I could've handled that myself." Marshall rolled his eyes as he handed her the nut and the arm to her. He began to slide the legs onto one of her floor toms.

"Have you thought of a title for our song yet?"

"I was thinking 'Boytoys Love Me'." Marshall kept a straight face.

"Yeah, that's good." He didn't want to hurt her feelings. She did that to herself enough of the time. Marshall was glad that she wasn't trying to lock him up in her living room like she did with the other princes. But it was probably because she either knew that he was too powerful, or that she respected him. He helped her put heavier pieces on, and she sat down to adjust them to her preference. "Isn't it difficult to do everything in that dress?" Marshall couldn't imagine how constricting a fancy dress like that could be.

"Yes, but it's all about appearance." She struggled to adjust the snare drum to fit between her legs."Yeah, let's start." She brandished her drumsticks and counted them in. Marshall hit the switch on the keyboard just in time to start the song. He began to sing.

"Marshall Lee, is it just you and me in the wreckage of the globe? That must be so confusing for my little bro. And I know you're going to need me here with you, but I'm losing myself and I'm afraid you're going to lose me too." Then they sang the bridge in unison.

"This magic keeps me alive, but it's making me crazy! And I need to save you, but who's going to save me? Pleaaase forgive me for whatever I do, when I don't remember you." The queen gave a cute little drum fill before singing her section.

"Marshall Lee, I can feel myself slipping away. I can't remember what it made me say. But I remember that I saw you frown, I swear it wasn't me, it was the crown!" The bridge in unison again. They repeated the last line and hummed the ending of the song. Marshall was starting to get sentimental again. He would usually avoid the Queen for fear of a breakdown, but he couldn't just send her away. Especially now that they were bonding like this. They continued through the song, and reached the end. They added extra flare at the end, with a big combination drum and guitar solo. Marshall found it easier to hold back tears each time he played it.

"Simone, do you remember anything else?" Marshall asked, hopeful.

"Who's that?" She stared at him with blank white eyes, ones that accurately represented her memory. He continued strumming. Apart from that, silence. The awkward strain was becoming tenser by the second.

"Should we give it another shot?"

"No, I thought we'd do something else." Marshall looked at the queen inquisitively.

"What did you have in mind?" She shrugged in response. Marshall was surprised that he wasn't frustrated with her yet, but he assumed it was because of the good times they had together. He set his guitar gently against the wall and smiled. The vampire went over to the cupboard where he kept all of his movie stuff, and grabbed a VCR and his favourite tape. He lugged his small TV out of a closet beside it and set it up in front of his loveseat. "Have you ever seen _Heat Signature_?"

"No. I probably wouldn't like it. I'm too cool for that stuff." Marshall continued to plug output cords into their various ports.

"Well, too bad. It's my favourite, and you liked it when I showed you last time." He finished setting it up, and stood upright. He floated to his refrigerator and filled a bowl with various fruit. "Sorry, I don't have any popcorn." He returned to see the queen trying to get decently comfortable on his couch. He rested in midair above it.

"It's fine. I brought some trail mix." They continued to watch the movie, and the Queen enjoyed it, just as she did last time. Not even a hint of déjà vu. By the end of the movie, it was pitch black outside, and Simone was barely awake. She stretched on the couch. The stretch made her look very scrawny. "I suppose I should be getting back home. Would you mind helping me pack these up?" She yawned a wide yawn, facing the drumset. Marshall felt wrong to let her go back home in this dark, carrying all of those drums.

"I was thinking maybe you could leave these here. You wouldn't have to set them up every time you came over."

"I'll just leave them for tonight. I'll come to get them some other time." Marshall nodded in response. "Maybe you could visit _me_ sometime." She opened the door. Marshall came over to see her out.

"I'd like that."Marshall's reply was sincere this time. The queen blushed, then took off. Flirting again. Marshall shook his head, then cleaned up. Despite being a creature of the night, he was rather tired. He supposed that it was the party that did it. Marshall got ready for bed, and promptly fell asleep.

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**[Originally, I was calling the Queen Sasha. But I don't like that name. And while I was screwing around on the internet, I saw drawings of Simone Petrikov. And I decided that I liked that name a lot more. So I'm changing it.**

**And I like how Grey Delisle plays her voice. That voice actor is in everything.]**


	3. Chapter 3: Time for Adventure

Marshall would've slept in all day if it weren't for the loud banging on the door. He reached down from his hovering position to grab the pillow and pull it around his head. He hoped that if he just ignored it, the banging would stop. But it was incessant. It could only be one person. Well, it could've been anyone. But the only person he could think of that was brave enough to come near his house if it wasn't an emergency was Fionna. "Get up, dumbhole! I'm bored!" Even though it was muffled by both the pillow and the house itself, Marshall could still hear it. He didn't want to get up. He was still tired, and didn't feel like doing anything. But when Fionna wanted something, there was no stopping her. The door wasn't locked, but she stretched up to his bedroom window on Cake. Marshall still stayed hovering with the pillow over his head. He heard a thump, and then a warm hand was around his ankle. "You better get up…" She was moving him toward the window.

"Ooh, you best wake up. She's getting the scissors!" Cake jeered. Marshall heard snipping and immediately threw the pillow at Fionna. As she fell to the ground, she pulled him down with her. He endured a jarring jerk, but didn't touch the feathers whooshed out of the pillow as it landed, scissors embedded in it.

"Careful! What if those hit me?"

"What? What's so important?" He rubbed his face groggily, almost eyes were barely open. Diverting from his nocturnal tendencies was really taking a toll on him. "Don't threaten the hair!"

"I thought we should do a dungeon today. I found one really close by!" Marshall was flustered and overwhelmed by the chattering. But at least his hair was safe.

"Okay! Jeez, can you let me get dressed first?" Fionna blushed and released his ankle when she realized he was wearing only boxers. Marshall wasn't used to seeing Fionna blush.

"Sorry, man. I'm just pumped. There's supposed to be this cool sword-"

"Privacy?" Fionna blushed harder and climbed back out the window. Marshall pulled on the pair of jeans he was wearing yesterday, a clean pair of socks, and a button-up shirt. He also grabbed his leather jacket and his fedora to block out the sun. Fionna, of course, was already at the door again. When she realized it was unlocked, she let herself in. Marshall was brushing his fangs in front of the sink. Fionna's rabbit ears poked up from the ladder hole to the main floor below.

"Ready yet?" The ears had become the top half of Fionna's face. Marshall rolled his eyes, then spit out the toothpaste.

"You don't give up easy, do you?" He floated down to the bottom floor, bumping into Fionna and causing her to fall off the ladder. Before she could brace for impact, Marshall had caught her and plopped her down on the couch. She still exhaled as some of the air left her.

"Glob, Marshall. Your couch is really uncomfortable." Marshall grabbed an apple out of the fridge.

"What do I care? It's not like I use it for anything." He sucked the colour out of it. "Here, catch." He tossed the monochrome apple at Fionna, who caught it while half-propped up on the couch.

"What the junk?" She examined the bite marks.

"Do something with it. I thought maybe you were hungry."

"That's gross. Used food…" She got a devilish smile and threw it at the vampire, who caught it even though he was busy looking for his shoes. He just tossed it outside for something else to eat. "What's with this drum kit? It looks a lot like Ice Queen's."

"Oh... y'know." He mentally kicked himself for not thinking of a better answer.

"No, I don't." Fionna wasn't satisfied. As Marshall found his shoes, he noticed that Cake had been rather quiet. He slipped them on, grabbed his axe guitar, and started floating slowly away from his house.

"We going, or what?" He turned back to see Fionna practically teleport off of the couch. At the mention of adventure, all previous conversations were forgotten to her.

"Yo, Cake!" Fionna called for her companion. Cake slowly walked out of the house. Marshall yawned, and his face grew into a terrible snarl. On instinct, she ran back inside."Let's go!" Fionna forged ahead, fist held out in front of her like she was suddenly going to fly. Marshall floated along slowly, halfway between the frightened cat and the ecstatic girl.

"Cake,you coming?" She peeked timidly out of the crack between the door and the frame. Cake didn't trust Marshall, and he knew that. He could practically smell it on her. But Cake felt that it was dangerous to leave Fionna alone, especially after the events of the previous night. She dragged herself out of the house, and took off as fast as she could to catch up. Marshall caught up without effort, where he floated alongside Fionna. "So, why so excited to go do this thing?" Fionna's smile widened at the thought.

"Well, we were hangin' outside, and we saw sparkles on the house. We chased em' until they led us to this holo-message player and this cartridge." She pulled both of them out of her adventure-pack and handed them to Marshall. He put the cartridge inside of the player and listened to the message that was recorded in the three-dimensional hologram. A Cat entered the recorded area and cleared her throat.

"Hello, girls!" The cat waved and coughed a few times. She resembled Cake almost exactly, but didn't resemble Fionna even a little bit. Maybe she looked like her father… Marshall made a mental note to ask her sometime. For now he assumed she was adopted. "If you're hearing this pre-recorded message, it's because I've passed on, and my spirit sparkles guided you to its secret hiding place." She put up her arm and sparkles appeared. Then she picked up a small cat and a pudgy baby wearing a rabbit hat. Marshall assumed they were Fionna and Cake. "Right now, I'm holding both of you in my hands. You're both still little squishy babies." Their mother squished both of them with her hands, causing Fionna to cry.

"You were so _cute_, Fionna!" Fionna blushed at Marshall's comment. She slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Shushers! You'll miss parts." Baby Fionna and Cake were set down, and they both crawled off-screen.

"I made you girls something. It's a dungeon. A _proper_ dungeon. Full of evil monsters, traps, and magic. The whole kazoo! Now this next part of the message is just for you, Cake." Fionna reached over and pressed the stop button.

"See? Anything my mom made is gonna be so sweet!" Fionna could barely contain her excitement. Marshall chuckled at her.

"So, why bring _me_ along?" Marshall asked. He had been wondering since he woke up. Fionna had never invited him to do a dungeon before. Not that he didn't want to, it was just a change in pace.

"I don't know, either." Cake pouted. Fionna didn't hear her, but Marshall did. He pretended that he didn't, for Fionna's sake.

"Well, I figured you probably felt left out all the time. I get to see Gumball alot, but I'm not usually awake when you are." Marshall sensed weirdness. What had happened at the Gumball Ball that would've made them both act weird like this? There was a faint moaning in the distance. Not pained, just… moaning. "Hey Marshall, is that a dumb-lookin' rock over there?" Marshall squinted into the distance. He would've been able to see it, if it weren't for the sunlight. They all moved a little bit closer. Marshall focused as much as he could.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Because that's where we need to go!" Fionna took off toward it. Marshall and Cake struggled to keep up. Time for another whirlwind adventure.

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**[Reviews are appreciated! I've been going back to read these chapters and I'm seeing a few errors or things that disrupt the flow of the story progression, so I would love it if someone would point those type of things out to me.]**


	4. Chapter 4: A Proper Dungeon

Cake and Marshall were ten paces behind, and Fionna was already trying to budge the rock. Marshall hurried over. "Need some help?" Fionna rammed her shoulder into the rock. Its eyes were rolling around aimlessly in their sockets as it made 'duh' noises.

"No. I-" She backed up. "GOT THIS!" She yelled as she rammed her shoulder into the rock again. She recoiled and grabbed the injured arm.

"Okay, calm down before you hurt yourself." He put his feet down, then gently guided her into a sitting position on the ground. The rock continued gurgling and making random noises. "It's not a bad thing to ask for help." He turned to face the rock, ready to move it, but Cake had already uncovered the hole underneath the boulder. Fionna sprang up and jumped in as fast as she could, followed by Cake. Marshall couldn't understand how Fionna could even move after jarring her shoulder like that, and followed. He knew that Fionna felt she didn't need a babysitter, but he felt that she was too reckless. He didn't want to see her get hurt. He landed gracefully on his feet, and was alarmed by Cake's excited yelling.

"Whoa! Burgers and hot dogs! Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!" There were two piles of food lying in the stone slab room, and Cake ran toward the hotdog pile.

"Wait, Cake!" Cake turned around to face Fionna, a sad look in her eyes.

"But… But those are hot dogs…"

"Didn't you say you were hungry for burgers this morning?" Fionna had an inquisitive tone.

"Yeah, so?"

"And didn't I say I was hungry for hot dogs?" Fionna slowly walked toward Cake.

"Mmm hmm, I remember." Marshall already knew where Fionna's train of thought would lead. This was a trap. He brandished his axe, ready to strike.

"I don't think those burgers and hot dogs are burgers and hot dogs at all…" She neared one of the hot dogs, and it started to move in a chain with the others. She yelled loudly and kicked it melodramatically The hamburgers started to move as well. Marshall jumped into battle, slicing juicy meat with his axe. He was slicing furiously, every attack countered with a limb decapitation, having more fun than he'd had in a while. He didn't notice Fionna's escape until the doorway opposite the entrance collapsed.

"Fionna!" He yelled and flew over to a crack in the destroyed stone slab. A hamburger arm was pinned by the rubble, and Cake was trying to eat it. Fionna smacked her before she could eat anything. "Are you alright?" Marshall peered through the crack as she dusted herself off.

"Yeah. Can you get through?" Marshall tried to stuff himself into the crack.

"No." He was stuck. His shoulders were too broad.

"I'll be alright. You should probably just go back." She started walking down a passageway, out of his line of sight.

"But-" Marshall was cut off when a hot dog tentacle wrapped around his ankle and yanked him loose. He yelled as he was flung this way and that, until the tentacle flung him full force toward one of the walls. Marshall stopped in midair about a foot away from the wall, exhaling in relief. He figured that he might as well defeat this thing, in case they had to come back this way. It looked like Fionna forgot to pack her sword, and he didn't want to see her hurt. He snapped back to reality just as the hot dog monster lunged toward him. He dodged, narrowly missing a clobbering appendage of meat. He took a swing at it, but his heavy axe was too slow and the tentacle had already wound up for another attack. He held his axe's shaft with two spread hands in front of him, preparing to block another attack. The hot dog jabbed right into his gut. Blocking this beast would take more than a simple weapon defense. Marshall threw off his jacket and hat.

Marshall grew into a bat-beast that's size rivaled the food monster's. The flopping of meat and bun echoed in his giant ears, and Marshall quickly echo located the beast and took it down within a minute. He shrunk back down to regular size. _Might as well find something else to do. _Marshall didn't want to wait around all day, so he donned his hat and jacket and floated back home. Now that he finally had a moment to himself, he pondered the day while strumming his guitar. Cake was more high-strung around him than usual. He could feel the relief emanating from her when he got stuck in the remnants of that wall. He understood that it was probably a very personal errand for Cake. If he had watched the part of the cartridge that was meant just for her, he'd probably understand her position more. But Fionna was oblivious to that aspect, so why was _she_ being all weird? She'd blushed at least three times in one hour. She never blushes. No matter which way he looked at it, he just couldn't seem to shake the feeling that something odd happened at that party. But it didn't feel right to ask.

He sat around, ate, and sat around some more. He was expecting the day to be really awesome, but it just ended in disappointment. He had a feeling that this was going to be quite the busy week.

Since Marshall still had a whole day to burn, he thought. A nice quiet thinking period was good for the soul. Marshall was unsure if he had a soul. If he didn't, maybe a thinking period was bad for him. Either way, there was no avoiding it. He had already started thinking. He thought about Ash by the fridge when he was grabbing a bowl of strawberries. He thought about Gumball while floating up his ladder. He plopped down on his bed with his guitar, apple held between his jaws, and thought about his guitar. He eyed it closely. No new scratches, thankfully. Maybe next time he needed a weapon, he'd skip the guitar and find something else to use. He was the second-most powerful being he knew. The first was his mother. That reminded him that he should really get around to the monthly visit he paid her. He'd get around to it, eventually. Still on the topic of motherly figures, Marshall thought about Simone. Which reminded him of their song.

Marshall placed his fingers on his bass and tried to stretch them wide so that he could hit that specific note. The muscles between his fingers were taught, even after all these years of playing. It was some vampire thing, maybe his muscles wouldn't stretch properly without human blood. There was only one place he could get that… Which brought him to the topic of Fionna. She'd been so weird today… Marshall wondered why he cared. He wondered why he was such a softie. Everyone in the Vampire community frowned upon him for drinking shades of red instead of victims. You'd think surviving the apocalypse would harden a person, where in Marshall's case it had made him have a soft spot for the living. Most of all, Fionna. Maybe _she_ could be the muse for his new song. He grabbed a nearby notepad and worked through some chords and lyrics. He started off with a C. "Good little girl," So far, that was all he had written. He had ideas, but couldn't seem to fit them into this song. It was odd that it sounded really sappy. Almost like a love song. But it wasn't. Marshall didn't write that kind of crap. Couldn't. He decided to add in a description of their playful rivalry. That would change the song, wouldn't it? He couldn't seem to get the words in the song, only the melody. So he refined it. A strange feeling overcame him while playing the song. He was almost relieved when he heard a knock on his door. He went to the ground floor to answer it. His relief was exchanged for that odd feeling again when it was Fionna at the door.

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**[Wow. It's only been twelve hours since I posted this and it's already got 49 visitors. Was it because the summary was better? Or was it because people who were reading my last story decided to see what it was like when it was only a single storyline? Whatever, guys. It's pretty much the same story, just more to the point. I'll update both of them at random. When I write these stories, the Gunther-related bits throw off the intervals. Marshall's Madness has two chapters less than Cold Criticism, but it's already ahead in the story. I guess all us horny teenagers don't give a rat's ass about penguins. BRING ON THE FIOLEE, am I right? Yeah, I'll shut up now and get back to writing. :P]**


	5. Chapter 5: Weakness and Lies

"Hey. How'd it go?" Marshall asked the girl in the doorway. Fionna beamed with excitement. She reached over her shoulder for a red hilt that Marshall hadn't noticed until she'd grasped it. Fionna swung the large sword at Marshall, knowing that he would avoid the attack. He planted his feet and caught it between two flattened palms, and began to smile in triumph. But the smile turned into a gape of surprise when a spike of cold traveled through his arms, causing him to release it. It hit him between the collarbones. The tip of the blade sunk through layers muscle. sending another wave of cold to Marshall's neck area. He bled more than a normal blade would cause him to bleed. Fionna instantly drew back the sword, causing the cut to grow a few centimetres longer. Marshall fell onto one knee. He put a hand on the cut, inhaling through gritted teeth.

"Dude! Are you okay?" She dropped the sword and panicked about, not knowing what to do.

"Yeah, Yeah. Just gimmie a sec." He said, a hint of pain still audible in his voice. He breathed slowly for a few seconds, and the wound began healing. It was a slower healing process than usual. He took his hand off, and the wound hadn't shrunk more than a centimetre.

"I'm really sorry. What the junk happened?" Marshall stood back upright now that the pain was replaced with a slight coldness. He ran a hand through his hair, resting it on his neck.

"Well, I caught it. Then it… shocked me, or something. What the heck is that sword made of?"

"Demon's blood. Why?" Marshall made a connection. He felt cold whenever a demon was near, so a demon blood sword must have the same effect.

"I think you just found my weakness. Be careful with that thing!" Fionna blushed again, then sheathed the sword in-between her backpack and her body.

"Okay. Sorry again." Blushing… was it because she was embarrassed? Marshall had seen her blush more today than he had in the past three months. Even if it weren't for that fact, he could sense this weird air about her and Cake. He was itching to know what happened at that party. But it felt weird to just come out and ask right after being sliced.

"Wait, I didn't get a good look at it when it was flying toward my face." He grabbed a cloth. Fionna handed him the sword. He grabbed the hilt gingerly with his cloth-covered right hand. It seemed to be okay… He looked at the intricately carved demon tooth on the end, and the recurring theme of crosses. He reached with his left hand to stroke the blade. He flinched when the red thing shocked him again. "Yeah, shut up." He muttered before Fionna had a chance to jeer at him. He handed it back to her, and she sheathed it again.

"Sorry we left you behind. Cake said we had to hurry up." At the sound of her name, the spotted cat poked her miniature head out from under Fionna's hat. She was trying to mask her discontent about being near Marshall. If this was the family sword's power... maybe there was a deeper reason that Cake was uncomfortable around Marshall.

"I was wondering; why the sudden need for a new sword?" Fionna's mind went blank. She couldn't tell him the truth. She was embarrassed about her being duped by the Ice Queen like that. It was bad for her image. It was better if nobody else knew.

"Uhhh… Old one was dull."

"Yeah. The yellow one? Gold is too soft of a metal to be making weapons out of." He gestured inside, then closed the door behind her and followed her to the couch. She sat down, and he decided to sit down as well. He made a disgruntled face. "You're right, this couch is really uncomfortable." She giggled in response.

"What have I been telling you?" Fionna said in a bubbly tone. Marshall couldn't shake the weirdness. Now she was being giggly. "So then, what's your axe made of? It's the same colour as my sword."

"It's a metal commonly found in the Nightosphere. It's called hematite, I think. Your sword probably has some hematite in it too; otherwise it would be a puddle." The feeling wasn't going away. It was getting stronger. There was a silence. Marshall couldn't bear it. He cleared his throat. More silence. The topic of the party was welling up inside him, right on the tip of his tongue. He had to ask. But he didn't want to pry too much. "So, how was the party?" Some of the pressure let up. But not much.

"Pretty good." Fionna was still really embarrassed. She was mentally slapping her forehead for being tricked like that. The only reason the true Gumball asked her out was because she saved him. It hurt her, but not physically. She wasn't used to this kind of pain.

"Oh? I didn't really get to see you." Marshall was 99% sure something happened at the party. Something she didn't want to talk about. There was no doubting it now.

"Yeah. I… I went home. I wasn't feeling good, y'know?" She was sweating. Marshall could see right through her. She was transparent. Cake was sensing Fionna's panic, and being her wingman, started to help her out. She grew down toward the floor until she was in her normal shape.

"Hey Fionna, wasn't there that thing we had to do… Didn't Turtle Prince ask us to help out at the library?" Cake eyed her with an expression that clearly said 'play along'.

"Uh…Yeah! Right. Those paper origami people are jankin' everything up. We'll just… be going now." Fionna and Cake backed away from him, with cheesy, see-through smiles. They never took their eyes off of him, and fumbled behind their backs with the doorknob.

"Here. I can see you're both so eager to get out of here." The past couple minutes had just been an exchange of lies. They both awkwardly tried to get out of the way of the door so that the vampire could swing it open, and they exited just as awkwardly. They scampered off into the almost completely set sun, not even saying goodbye. But Marshall did. He wasn't sure if it was just because of the current weirdness, but something lingered. It was a longing. Marshall brushed it aside, pairing it with his curiosity about the party.

Again, he was worn out at the end of a day. Living in Aaa was really screwing up his internal clock. As Marshall got ready for bed, he wondered how he was still sane. So much had happened in 1000 years, much of it ended horribly. A regular person's mind deteriorates after 90 years, generally. But then again, there was no reference available to show him what a regular person even _was_ to begin with. Marshall wondered what would happen to Fionna when she reached old age. She would be a different person, with more experience and less mobility. But 60 years wouldn't change much for Marshall. He would still be the same. And so would Gumball. It was an odd concept to think about. It would really do a lot to Fionna's sanity, having the people close to her remain the same. Whereas Cake, who was the closest to her, was already in her prime. Cake would most likely die before Fionna reached her 30's. Fionna would feel so alone. There would be no replacing a friend like that. Even though Marshall and Cake didn't see eye to eye, he respected her. He respected the fact that Cake would always put her sister's safety first. He checked his fangs in the mirror, making funny faces with his toothbrush held outside of his mouth. Maybe he shouldn't think about such morbid things. It could damage Marshall's own sanity.

**[I read through this chapter and realized that I had used the word 'recoiled' at least three times, so I had to change it to 'flinched' or 'drew back' because it wasn't looking like a word anymore. Please alert me if you notice stuff like that. Or you could just leave a review. Review. Please. Attention.]**


	6. Chapter 6: Crazy

He woke up the next day, and decided that he would finally get around to visiting his mother. He tried to visit his mother at least once a month. Relations between them were becoming stronger, and Marshall thought that it would be good for him to have family that remembered him. As he drew a frowning face on the wall, he remembered back when Fionna had accidentally summoned his mother to this realm. How she freaked out whenever someone lost their soul. He found it cute how she cared so much for the other mortals. He splashed bug milk on the wall with the face on it, effectively drenching the depiction. He began the chant, one that he knew since he could remember. "Meloso yobiscum et cuum spiritum!" This only opened a portal. If Marshall had drawn a happy face, his mother's wrath would be unleashed upon the world again. And he knew how Fionna wouldn't like that. Funny, how he kept accommodating for Fionna. Marshall was beginning to suspect that he was letting her in too close… Every time he let that happen, he got hurt. He regained focus on the current task, and walked through the fiery portal.

He ended up in a random location every time he went there, so he got to know the lay of the land rather well. He felt like he belonged here, but it didn't feel like home. Home was where he could easily access his friends. He floated fairly high above ground level, but the mountainous landscape negated the fact. He could barely see the top of his mother's black volcano. He scanned around the dark red mountains, absent-mindedly looking for resident demons. It was actually kinda cool how they had carved their villages into the volcano-side and used the magma for power. His blood was always cold around here, despite the heat. It was refreshing to be around demons. But because his blood-sense was permanently tripped in the Nightosphere, he couldn't watch his back easily. He felt he didn't need to, because he was the second-most powerful being in the realm, but Ashley was constantly forgetting that fact. She caught Marshall by surprise, clamping her hand over his mouth. For a few seconds he feared that it was a rebellious peasant trying to throw the politics of the Nightosphere off-kilter, but calmed down when he recognized the scent. "You're mine now!" She giggled triumphantly, with a heavy undertone of madness. Marshall unclamped her hand and tried extremely hard not to laugh.

"I really broke you, didn't I?" He could tell she was repressing another hissy fit.

"Yeah, mainly bones!" She was falling apart at the seams. Marshall relished in her pain.

"You should know better than to piss me off. Besides, you have healing spells."

"YOU should know it's taboo to hit girls!" Marshall covered her mouth with his hand, returning the favour.

"Girls are generally mortal." There was an angry silence. "Sorry, how rude of me. You wanted to complain to me about your entertainingly horrible life." Her anger disappeared.

"No, actually. I… I wanted to give you this." She held up a stuffed…thing, it was threadbare and many of the seams were coming loose. The limbs were uneven and the head was extremely misshapen, with incongruent ears sticking out of the top. Marshall accepted it from her outstretched arms. He wasn't sure what it was supposed to be, and it definitely wasn't Hamba. It had an unpleasant smell. It seemed to be made out of random shreds of cloth.

"Ash…" Marshall stared at it incredulously. She smiled in triumph.

"You like it?"

"What… What's it supposed to be?" She wasn't set off by his remark.

"A rag beast. I made it for you." Marshall thought it was really thoughtful. It didn't have the same emotional value as Hamba, but he appreciated it. "Are you over yourself yet?" Her arrogance broke through his temporary happiness.

"No. You haven't the slightest clue what it was like, growing up during the war. But you're trying." He put it inside of his shirt so that he wouldn't have to carry it, and so that his mother wouldn't make fun of it. He headed off toward the barely visible tip of his mother's volcano.

"Wait! Where are you going?! Don't you love me?" Ash yelled after him.

"No. You've made me slightly less mad at you. Don't make it worse." He turned back toward the castle, and started to make his way again.

"Oh, come on! I'm the only one for you! You know that!" She yelled after him. Marshall used to think that he didn't have a partner. "You're kidding! You've fallen for..._her?!_ The chump?!" Marshall did a double-take.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"You are! Oh my Glob!" She started laughing madly again. What did she know? She was just trying to mess with him, to get to him. He stared as she disappeared behind another mountain of red rock. He shook it off and composed himself as he headed toward the castle.


	7. Chapter 7: Choose

As he got closer to the more populated areas, Marshall began to see total chaos. There was horrific screaming, and demons of every shape and size. The mountains were replaced by giant pyramids that resembled the surrounding hellscape. The demons were more active here. The random pyres that shot up over the landscape were getting more frequent. There were cross-section demon buses that ran and flew around, their organs showing out of their right sides. They took the smaller demons around, which Marshall thought was cute in a weird way. There were depictions of Harley everywhere. In her disgusting Nightosphere form, of course. A business suit with a large slit-mouthed head on top. The river of people waiting to talk to Harley Abadeer was just as packed as it normally was. That one guy was still there, rowing on the tops of their heads. For some, the Nightosphere was fun. For the lower class, nothing but pain and suffering. Marshall didn't really feel bad about them. But he was weirded out about how much his mother enjoyed their suffering. It was her job, he supposed.

His mother's castle was basically a carved-out volcano. The only thing that really distinguished it from the mountains and pyramids surrounding it was the black colour and the clouds of sentient blood-mist that came in and out. He floated into one of the open gaps that were used as windows. "Mom?" His voice was muffled by the wind whistling through the stone. She was out, working as usual. Marshall was unsure what his mother even did. He looked around at the pictures on the wall. Many of them were of his mother posing with people that he didn't know. His mother with an old-fashioned president. There was a photo of her golfing, with Peppermint Maid lugging around her equipment. He never knew that they had met before... An incoming cloud dissolved, revealing the ugly demon head that belonged to his mother. As the blood-mist dissipated, he inhaled. It was much more satisfying than any fruit. Her less terrifying head replaced the other one. The shadows reflected dramatically off of her defined cheekbones.

"Marshall! It's been a while." She tried to go for a hug, but Marshall didn't realise, so she stopped. He tried to give her a hug once he realised what she was trying to do, and they both ended up jerking awkwardly around each other. They finally made contact, and there was a short hug. When they released the hug, there was an awkward silence. A fluffy black thing inched into the cave. It meowed emptily.

"What's that?" Marshall pointed to it. He didn't sense a heartbeat coming from it.

"That's Schwabelle. I zombified a cat. Maybe you want a pet?" Marshall shook his head. There was no way Cake would approve of a cat corpse walking around his house. The awkward silence returned. Marshall wasn't used to his mother. He had no idea what to say. Harley cleared her throat. "So… Did you do anything… evil… lately?" She was trying to break the ice. Marshall paused to think.

"I broke a wizard's heart."

"You didn't kill anybody?" His mother was obviously disappointed.

"No, mom. You know I don't do that."

"Why? Because your friends don't want you to? You're going to let yourself be pushed around by mortals?"She crossed her arms, her business suit making her look all the more serious.

"Mom, I don't because I don't feel like it. Is that so hard to understand? It's not who I am."

"Well, it's who you're going to be. One day, this'll be yours." She spread her arms wide, facing the panorama of chaos outside her window.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm into music."

"Well, tell that to the vampires. They're not happy with you." She was still facing outside, hands clasped behind her back. He had to hand it to her, she had her priorities straight. "They want someone fierce! Someone who rightly embodies everything that a vampire is." She turned to face Marshall again. "If you don't grow a backbone, they'll incite an uprising." Marshall stared at her with a bored expression.

"But you love chaos. Why is it a problem for you?"

"Because the vampires have a lot of power here. They can gain the trust of the people. Remember the War? They can do it again." She smiled evilly. "But this time, they won't be defeated by mere animals. They won't stop until the Nightosphere and the land of Aaa are indistinguishable. And nobody will be able to control them." Marshall did _not_ want to see that happen.

"Fine, then. What do they want from me?"

"A horrible act. Something that a mortal would go insane thinking about." Marshall also didn't want to take action for his kingdom. He never asked to lead these people. That was what his mother wanted, the reason he was born.

"Like what?"

"Take something beautiful and rare. Then, destroy it! Obliterate it until you are the most feared person between realms. These are the ways of the family business, son." She was scary happy whenever she thought about her son being the destroyer, the messiah of the Nightosphere.

"Yeah, fat chance." His mother tried not to be angry. She used her tactfulness to her advantage and thought of a way that he could appease the masses.

"Well, if _you're_ not going to be destroying anything, you need a Queen who will strike fear into their hearts!" Where was Marshall going to find a Queen? "What about that girl… Ashley, was it? She would be perfect. She's already respected by the target audience." Marshall choked on nothing. No way. "Okay, fine then! What about the brave one?" Marshall wasn't following.

"Who?"

"The human. The last human. How the masses would smile upon such a warping of innocence…" No. Marshall wasn't doing anything of the sort.

"There must be another way!"

"There is. You let every demon in the Nightosphere waltz into your world and feed upon it until it's a hollow, empty shell." The thought of that kind of panic appealed greatly to her, but the fact that she would have no control was a deal breaker for her. Her son would have to stop this uprising before it started. Marshall was beginning to lose it.

"Whatever, Mom! You're probably trying to trick me again! I'm outta here." He began to draw another face on the floor to go back home.

"Don't you want this cat?" She motioned to the cat that was leaning against her leg, totally motionless and expressionless. Marshall poured the bug milk he got from the refrigerator on the face.

"No,Mom! Now's not a good time!" He opened up the portal and fell through into his own world. That boy was not realizing the depth of the situation. He wasn't acting like the vampire monarch he was, governed by emotion instead of logic. Harley sighed, then went back to work.


	8. Chapter 8: Psycho

Marshall was spit back out of the portal feet first. It was always discombobulating to go through the floor and come out of the wall. Luckily, he could levitate, so he rearranged his center of gravity. The portal shrunk into a crack in the wall with a face around it. He wouldn't have to draw another one until it was washed away by the bug milk. He tossed the rag-beast on his couch angrily and headed to the fridge. Generally, Marshall ate whenever he was feeling down. He was grabbing a bottle of ketchup when he heard sounds of struggle outside. He rushed to the window and saw two people and an animal fighting. One of the people didn't have a pulse… As soon as Marshall's brain caught up with itself, he realized that Ashley was trying to get rid of the competition. The competition was Fionna. He was frozen, unable to move from the spot near the window above the counter, ketchup in hand. It was dripping all over the floor, but he paid no attention.

"I don't understand what you want! You're bizzonkers!" Fionna yelled at the angry wizard. She held her sword with two hands, confidently. To a lesser creature, she would've been very intimidating. Cake stretched around behind Fionna, her fists growing into hammers.

"He. Him. You. You! Chump. Chump, Chump, CHUMP." Ashley couldn't even manage proper English. She charged at Fionna on foot, running like a madwoman, a close-range spell charging in her palm. The other palm held a dagger.

"Fionna!" Marshall yelled as he clambered out of the window. As Ash ran by, Fionna narrowly dodged and sliced, and the wizard ran full speed into it. Blood flowed from the Wizard's abdomen, and the sound of the slash reverberated off the walls. This momentarily slowed Ashley, but soon she got back up.

"We got this, bro." Fionna reassured Marshall, then took another defensive stance, never taking her eyes off of the target. Marshall decided to just stay out of the way. Maybe Fionna could actually beat her. After all, she _did_ have the demon blood sword. Ash rushed her again, but learned as she fought. She used her speed to get past Fionna's slash and had sliced her neck within half a second. Fionna yelped in pain, but Marshall stayed near his house against his better judgement. Fionna and Cake could handle this... Right? Cake's hammer hit Ash in the forehead, sending her flying. She caught herself and began to levitate around. She licked her lips in delight, still laughing eerily.

Fionna yelled loudly and jumped toward the floating wizard, a stream of blood marking the path she flew. Ashley practically flicked her back to the ground as if she were a bug. A smile of pure madness masked the once-familiar face of Ashley. Fionna laid there on the ground as the wizard engulfed her blade in flames, ready to dive-bomb. Dread crossed Fionna's face when she realized that she was too dizzy to get out of the way, and her sword was too far away to reach. Marshall's face also deepened into dread as he attempted to stop the fight's progress. _I'm too late_. The thought repeated over and over in his head as he barreled through the air toward the conflict. Ashley collided with something. Was it him? Was it Fionna? His mind wasn't functioning properly due to the adrenaline. _She's dead. I'm too late_. His mind had to catch up with itself again for him to realize what had just happened. Ashley was struggling to reach Cake, over the sword that she was holding out like a shopping cart handle. The cold from the sword only fueled Ashley's madness as she lunged again and again with her dagger.

Cake struggled. The wizard was too strong for her, and she knew it. Her arms were shaking, but she was determined to protect her little sister. Ashley tried to pummel Cake with close-range waves of magic, but she stretched herself around them. There was no way Cake was going to stand aside and let a supernatural harm Fionna. Not after what her family worked toward, what they had sacrificed. Suddenly, her enemy was ripped away from the grapple. Marshall had tackled her away, but he had nicked his arm on the sword and caught a couple of Ashley's lunges in the process. Marshall broke off one of the many stalagmites lining the cave's floor. He followed through with the tackle, gaining more and more speed until he slammed her into the wall. The combination of falling stalactites and her pained grunt echoed through the cave. Marshall stared fiercely into Ashley's eyes. No words were exchanged, but he knew what she was thinking. She thought that he would love her again if she committed a violent act. But that was the old Marshall. There would be no forgiveness for her. Ash had blown her chance. He would destroy her.

Fionna tried to get back up, but struggled and fell back down. "Cake! Take Fionna to Gumball!" Marshall yelled over his shoulder. Even though she didn't like taking orders from a Vampire King, Cake complied.

"Ya don't have to tell me twice!" She threw Fionna onto her back as she grew in size and ran toward the Candy Kingdom, which was barely visible on the horizon. Ash writhed beneath the hand around her throat. She sliced at his stomach, struggling to breathe, struggling to win.

"I hate you." He whispered as he plunged a jagged stalagmite into her heart. Her eyes went a cold grey colour, but her smile remained as she slumped loosely around his arms. He was expressionless as he let her body fall to the edge of the dark water below. Maybe the vampires would be appeased. Goodbye, Ash. He wondered what he would do with the limp, lifeless body lying on the floor of the cave. Then he remembered another limp body. Possibly lifeless. He panicked quickly around his house, searching for his jacket, ransacking everything until he found it. He put a hand and a few pairs of socks under his jacket where Ashley had cut him. It was bleeding moderately for just a dagger wound. His hat was upstairs, so he grabbed it and shot out of his bedroom window. Fionna had come in that window earlier, and now he was racing out, racing against time. He flew over the land, and he didn't see Cake. That meant that she had already gotten there. Good. Time was of the essence. Marshall was unsure if Fionna's body would last much longer. He had to get there. Maybe he could be of help… But he wasn't sure if he could control himself around her blood. The wind was whipping angrily against his face, but he managed to squint through it to see the entirety of candy kingdom. Ash's blood was still cold on his hands.

**[I'm sure I've updated this chapter at least ten times. I keep finding small mistakes, and apparently I keep missing them. It would be greatly appreciated if you could point out any that you find.]**


	9. Chapter 9: Blood

He barreled through the kingdom, destroying the drawbridge that was just being pulled back up. The banana guards yelled, but Marshall paid no attention. He had one focus at the moment. He plowed through the castle, trying to sniff out his objective. It was hard for him to smell anything over the blood on his hands. He nearly took down Peppermint Maid. Her intense peppermint smell was slightly calming. "Marshall Lee?" she stared. It had been a while since she saw him last.

"Where are they?" He tried to hide the fear and anger in his voice. The maid took notice of his bloodied hands, but didn't know what to make of them.

"Follow me." She walked as fast as she could, being small and old. Marshall followed impatiently until he could smell bubble gum. And blood. So many smells. He was starting to lose it. He burst through the tall doors to the hospital hall, startling the patients who weren't already freaking out over their injured hero. Gumball was over by the bed where the adventuress was bleeding, stroking her hair. _What happened to you?_ Tears were beginning to form in his eyes. He jumped at the loud **BANG** of the doors being thrown open. He saw the vampire floating there, with a crazy look in his eye and two bloodied hands.

"What did you do?!" Gumball yelled. He thought that Marshall had hurt Fionna. Marshall stuttered, but couldn't formulate a proper sentence. He floated up to her bedside, where she lay unconscious. Gumball tried to push the vampire away, sweet tears falling from his face, but Marshall barely noticed.

"Is she going to be alright?" Marshall's voice was hoarse and panicked. Everyone in the hall was worried.

"Not unless we do something immediately. We can't stop the bleeding."Doctor Prince announced, making his presence known. Marshall puzzled with himself. His blood had healing properties, but there was a chance that she might turn into a vampire. It would be what his mother wanted... But he couldn't let her die. Even though he never wanted to see Fionna as a twisted creature, he hesitantly bit his wrist to make a small amount of blood flow from it. He lowered it toward Fionna's mouth. Some of it dripped onto her once-blue shirt, the shoulder of which was now a dark red colour. Gumball wrenched Marshall's hand away.

"Don't touch her!" In a way, it was Marshall's fault that Fionna was hurt. But now was not a time of long explanation.

"I swear to glob, if she turns into a vampire, I'm gonna kill you." Cake was full of malice at the sight of her weakened sister. It was too risky to use his blood. And there wasn't any other blood here to give her a transfusion.

"I don't see any of YOU coming up with ideas!" Marshall's obvious rage echoed through the hall. Everyone was silent. "Come on! WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!" He broke into a cold sweat. "Cake, was there nothing that you picked up on your adventures together?" She thought for a while.

"Cyclops tears. She got them last month, I'm not sure if they're still good." Cake was almost crying more than Gumball at this point.

"Where?"

"At the treehouse, in a wooden box in her closet." Marshall took off without saying another word. He was the fastest one in the room. After an hour's walk on foot compressed into 2.3 minutes, he was opening the window to Fionna's room. It was a mess, with random weapons jutting out from underneath the bed. His eyes were watering from the speed he was going. He stumbled around to her closet, and grabbed a box. He opened it and threw things over his shoulder. He couldn't see it. He dug deeper and found a bottle lying on the bottom. It had a small leak, so he wiped a droplet onto his finger. Curious, Marshall rubbed it onto the cut in his arm. It healed instantly what would normally take at least a day. The cold was completely gone. But there was no time for triumph or smiling. He rushed back through the slightly dented doors that he had burst through earlier.

"That was quick." Doctor Prince said, impressed. "But we have to hurry." Marshall was way ahead of him. He handed the now blood-smeared bottle to the doctor. "How does this work?" He eyed it, holding it up to the light.

"Gimmie a cloth." Someone handed a cloth to Marshall. He grabbed the bottle out of the doctor's hand, unscrewed the lid, and replaced it with the cloth in a millisecond. He tipped the bottle quickly onto the cloth to wet it, put the lid back on, and handed it off to the doctor as he put the cloth on the left side of Fionna's pale neck. She was barely breathing. The whole room held its breath in anticipation.

Nothing was happening. She wasn't regaining colour. Her pulse was getting fainter. "Fionna." Marshall said quietly, his hands coated in the blood of two people that he couldn't, at one time or another, live without. He grabbed the bottle of tears and put a little more on the wound."Fionna! Come on!" Marshall was barely keeping it together, between his dying friend and the temptation of her blood. He was sweating and shaking, and everyone in the room knew that he was about to explode. Cake approached Marshall carefully, handing him another cloth. He changed it out for the one he was currently using. He drenched the dying adventuress in tears, cyclops and vampire alike. It wasn't taking. "FIONNA!" He screamed and banged his fists down on the gurney where she was resting. Cake sought the comfort of a crying Gumball. Doctor Prince came forward, sure that it was over. He attempted to pull Marshall away from the girl, but Marshall pushed away violently and glared. His eyes were a terrifying red.

Sobbing quietly, he lowered his head onto her chest in an embrace. It was all his fault. His fault for…loving her. Only now could he admit it to himself. Everyone who knew what was good for them got up and left him alone. The blood from both of them smeared into their clothing, into Marshall's hair. He wanted to hear her last heartbeats as they became quieter. They wound down, and Marshall's pain increased as he heard the last. He didn't move, feeling empty. The side of his head was resting against her still heart.

He heard a thump. He thought that it had been something else going on around him. He didn't bother looking around. He heard another thump. A succession of two, this time. Silence for what seemed like an eternity. Another two thumps. His eyes widened, and he saw the girl's arm resting in front of his face. He saw the veins pulsate in synchronization with her heartbeat. He shot up, mouth agape as he saw her regain a small amount of colour. Another two thumps. He removed the reddened cloth from her neck. The cut was scarring over. Marshall was lost for words. Her heartbeat was getting louder, and she was getting warmer. She gasped herself awake, and Marshall discreetly wiped his tears. He didn't want her to see him like this.

"COME DOWN HERE! I'LL BEAT THE MATH OUT OF YOU!" She screamed before realizing where she was. She blinked a few times and looked around, unsure of what was going on. "Marshall? Where-" He cut her off with a giant hug. When she winced, he apologized and loosened his grip. "Good to see you, too." Marshall said nothing, he just hugged her, smelling how delicious she was… It was amazing how such a small nick could bleed so much.

"Fionna?" Cake ran into the room, and stopped when she saw him hugging her. She ran up to where Fionna was sitting and stretched her arms to wedge herself between the hug and replace Marshall's embrace. "I can't believe you're okay!" Cake yelled excitedly, then glared at Marshall. He got the message and left the room, parting through the crowd that was collecting at the door. He kept his head down, and everyone knew to move out of the way. Gumball tailed Marshall through the crowd. It was time for some answers.


	10. Chapter 10: Pink

Marshall made his way to the common room where he had spent so much time with Gumball, centuries ago. He remembered what it looked like before it was redecorated on the inside. He slumped down on one of the bright pink couches. He was happy to have Fionna alive, at least. What would he do if she died because of him? Marshall was smeared in blood, but the giant gash in his stomach had finally stopped bleeding. He didn't notice the pain while he was rushing around to save Fionna, and he worked his body too hard. The gash was just beginning to heal. If it healed at this rate, it would leave a scar. Marshall adjusted his position on the couch, and noticed that everything he touched became red. The cloth was still in his hands. He could use it to wipe himself off, but it was too dirty. And delicious. As he eyed it, he argued with himself. Should he drink it? He wasn't sure what effect it would have on him. Maybe he would lose control and actually hurt someone. But he needed tending to, and the bottle of tears was back downstairs. Where he was unwanted. It seemed he was only wanted at the places he sincerely didn't want to be. Maybe if he just gave in and became the person his mother wanted him to be, his life would be easier.

No one was going to tend to Marshall. No one cared. He started to put the cloth up to his mouth.

Gumball walked down the hallway toward the common room. He knew Marshall would head there. He was furious. Marshall was reckless and possibly the next person to be banned from the Candy Kingdom. How could he do something like that to Fionna? Why would he save her afterwards? Maybe he had just lost control… Whatever the case, it was unacceptable. The Prince put on his serious face as he walked down the hallway. He saw Marshall holding a bloodied cloth up to his mouth, about to chow down. Marshall's eyes were red. "JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" The vampire's eyes returned to the original black. He quickly tucked the cloth inside his shirt.

"Why do you care?" He mumbled in response.

"Well, for one you're walking a slippery slope with that blood. Hand it over." Marshall handed the cloth over guiltily."That's a 'grade A' bad idea. And I don't appreciate you eating my subjects." Gumball was defensive of everyone's favourite hero. And for good reason. Fionna was the backbone of Aaa, and one of the only viable candidates for a Queen. Because nobody wanted to marry Ice Queen.

"Fionna is nobody's subject." Gumball ignored this comment.

"And for two you've just ruined my couch!" Marshall smiled, as he found it funny when Gumball tried to be angry. He couldn't really pull it off.

"I think it's an improvement. Pink is just Red's wimpy cousin." Gumball's anger faltered slightly at the joke. He put his fists on his waist.

"And what is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"You're a wimp, Pinky." Marshall smiled, while Gumball kept his composure.

"Well, I'll be sure to inform my cousin." They both started laughing, until Marshall gasped in pain and grabbed the large gashes in his stomach. Fionna definitely put up a fight, but Marshall was still too strong for her. It was unfair fight, and with Marshall's charm the Prince couldn't even stay angry. Gumball felt terrible that he hadn't noticed the wound before Marshall took off, trying to right his wrongs. He reached over to help, but Marshall pushed away his outstretched arm.

"I don't want your help." This made Gumball feel worse.

"Just like we didn't want yours. But you helped anyways." Gumball unbuttoned Marshall's shirt.

"Is this just an excuse to take my shirt off?" Gumball held it up to fold it. The normal red of the plaid shirt was darkened on the front, especially around the large tears in the fabric. They didn't look like sword slashes... Maybe there was another side to this story.

"A little bit."Gumball folded the shirt over the arm of the chair. "Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back." He went to his personal bathroom and looked through the cupboards. There were miscellaneous chemicals in there that he really should put back in his lab. He hesitantly grabbed a few expensive towels and facecloths, a bucket, and a bottle of Plantoid extract. With a little bit of Zanoit tonic for the pain. He entered the common room again and began to tend to Marshall.

"Is Fionna going to be alright?" Marshall was still worried, even though he knew she was in good hands. Gumball put a facecloth full of Plantoid extract onto one of the gashes. Marshall inhaled sharply.

"Sorry!" Gumball poured a droplet of Zanoit tonic on the area, and saw Marshall relax again. "Yeah. She'll just need some rest." Gumball wrung the blood out of the cloth into the bucket. "About that…" He tapped his neck. "That wasn't you… Was it?" A shadow of guilt fell over Marshall's face.

"No. It was Psycho-girlfriend." But it could've been him. He was too dangerous around Fionna. Gumball's face deepened with dread.

"Where is she? Don't tell me she's running around terrorizing everybody! I'll send out my guard and-" Marshall held up his bloody right hand.

"Dead." Marshall said, voice unwavering. Curious, he licked the tip of his finger. "Hmm. Not bad." Gumball's face morphed into disgust. Marshall enjoyed making him squirm.

"You… really killed her?" Marshall nodded in response. Gumball hadn't really seen Marshall's dark side before. "Why would she attack Fionna?" Marshall wasn't sure if he was ready to tell.

"I guess she just snapped." Gumball moved on to the next gash.

"Well, that's one less supernatural being to worry about, then." Another joke, but one that neither of them laughed at. Marshall didn't find killing funny anymore. In fact, he felt kind of bad about it. He wondered what the other vampires would think of him. Then he wondered about another thing that had been bugging him for a while.

"So, I barely saw Fionna at the party. Where was she?" Gumball squeezed more blood out of the cloth.

"Well, she rescued me from Ice Queen." Marshall figured that she had a hand in this. "Then I asked her out. I came downstairs and you weren't there. Cinnamon Bun started a conversation with me and I had no idea what it was about."

"Yeah, neither do I. Sometimes I think she's half-baked."

"Don't be rude! That's a serious condition."Gumball looked displeased.

"Sorry. I didn't know." Gumball moved to the next gash, and handed Marshall a towel to wipe the blood from his hands and face.

"So, why were you curious about the party?" Marshall inhaled slightly at the dull pain of the wound cleaning. Gumball added another drop of tonic.

"Uh…Well…" Marshall didn't know for sure, but he thought maybe it was jealousy.

"She refused me, you know."

"Why would that matter? That doesn't matter to me. It's not my business." Marshall retorted.

"Don't kid me." Gumball saw right through the act. He always did. "I know you've got a thing for her." Marshall was at a loss for words. "You know, she might not choose either of us."

"Pinky… I-"

"No, you're not sorry. You're going to steal her from me."

"I'm not going to steal anything!" Marshall interjected. He hated when Gumball thought he knew everything. Which he usually did, but it made Marshall feel inferior.

"You already have. You stole my heart, and never gave it back."


	11. Chapter 11: Strain

"Seriously? That wasn't my fault. My mom pulled me away from you." Marshall was always the one being called childish. Sheesh. Gumball stood up and walked away a few steps, back turned to Marshall.

"And you didn't do a single thing about it." Gumball could be a real pain in the ass, especially when he was all pouty.

"I never told you why. There's two sides to every story."

"Well, tell me then!" As he swerved to face the vampire, Gumball's suppressed anger came to the surface.

"I _am_ royalty you know. The vampires were angry about our relationship, and they decided to make their own government."

"You mean…" Prince Gumball's eyes widened in an extreme sense of realization.

"Yeah. That war was about you." Marshall stood up slowly, masking his physical pain. "I'm just glad that you survived." Gumball felt terrible. He was mad at Marshall for such a long time, but it was his own fault that his family was dead. He always made fun of Marshall, but now he realized that Marshall had made some extremely tough decisions. The vampire headed toward Gumball's room to grab a clean shirt. Gumball followed.

"How could you let them revive The Lich? She killed my family! My subjects!" Marshall slipped on the Rock Shirt he had given Gumball. "I had to hire an Adventuress to put her back in captivity." The legendary Buffy, to be exact. Didn't Cake have a girl-crush on Buffy?

"Do you think my mother even let me go outside? She cared enough to keep me alive, but not enough to let me do what I wanted to do most." He faced the pink Prince again. "Never has, Never will." Gumball remained silent. Marshall thought that the prince only loved what people could do for him. That's why he was gunning for Fionna… She was the toughest living person in Aaa.

"You better not bleed all over that shirt." Gumball wasn't really sure how to handle this situation, emotionally.

"Why? Am I… frustrating you, Pinky?" Marshall made a mock serious face.

"Really, you can stop calling me pinky any time now." Gumball fumed at the vampire. Marshall choked on a laugh.

"Would you rather I call you… Bonamy?" Marshall tried as hard as he could to supress a laughing fit. The prince rubbed his temples by spreading his right hand across his face. He spoke through clenched teeth.

"No. Can't you just call me 'Prince' or 'Gumball' like everyone else?" Marshall returned to his casual float, mocking his high-strung acquaintance.

"No can do. You know, _pinky_, you haven't changed a bit."

"I could say the same for you." Marshall could physically _see_ the prince trying to keep composure. "Well, I'm going downstairs to see if Fionna is alright. _You_ need to stay here." Marshall crossed his arms, saying nothing as the Prince exited the room. He became invisible and followed quietly.

The room was abuzz with the chatter of relieved candy folk. Fionna was being smothered by excited fans, and with her current vital signs, Marshall could see that she needed some space. Doctor Prince saw it as well. "Give her some air, people! She needs rest." Many of the assorted candies didn't pay any attention until Cake got angry. She grew her arms around Fionna like some sort of fence, then pushed the crowd away by lengthening them.

"You heard the doctor! Move your butts!" The room cleared out hesitantly as Gumball approached the doctor. Fionna fell back asleep as nurse Pound-Cake rolled her to a quieter room. Marshall had to focus a bit more to hear over the chatter.

"-need a few days to recuperate while the tears replicate her blood. No adventuring before then. I think it would be best if she just stayed here."

"So would I. She could stay in my spare room." Cake looked a little wary of Gumball's proposal, but she seemed to remember something and lost her worry.

"Just keep her out of danger's way."

"I'll stick around to keep her company." Cake offered, then thought for a second. "Maybe I should go get BMO. We'll need some junk to do while we wait." She headed toward the big doors where Marshall was floating. He didn't worry, because she couldn't see him.

"I should get back upstairs. Marshall's probably breaking something." Gumball had such a snide tone. Did he really think so poorly of Marshall, even after all of his help? Cake was approaching the doors, Gumball not far behind. She got within five yards of the vampire before she stopped. Her tail fluffed up dramatically. She was on edge, scanning the room. Marshall realized that animals could sense his presence, and ducked out of the room, behind the wall he was nearest to. Cake came around the corner, as if she wasn't sure if she saw something or not. "What is it, Cake?" She stared at the spot where Marshall was hoping to stay hidden. He'd not counted the fact that she could sense danger. And she thought that he was dangerous.

"Something… I'm not sure. Something's here." Cake stretched up toward where Marshall was holding his breath, eyes closed. She waved her hand out in front of her, grazing Marshall's gashes. "Whoa!" She flinched, and so did Marshall. He lost his invisibility, causing Gumball to fall backward at the sudden appearance of the vampire. Doctor Prince ran over as well, and tripped on Gumball. A short interlude of chaos.

**[Still working on where to go from here. I know the ending of the story, but that's a long ways away. It's the journey that counts, so now I have to think of one. Sorry I haven't posted new stuff for a while. I'm legitimately stuck and I've got school and stuff.]**


	12. Chapter 12: Interrupted

**[I am really, really, REALLY sorry, guys. There are currently 22 of you who were waiting for a long time, but I've lost my sense of direction. I don't know where to go from here. And nothing of importance happens in this chapter. I've just been busy with life and such... Sorry. Sorry again... Sorry.]**

Fionna woke up to what sounded like everyone tripping over themselves. Considering how hyperactive she was, there was no way she could sleep anymore. There were no nurses around, so she struggled to stand up. She nearly blacked out, but regained balance and headed to where the noises were coming from. The hospital garment was thin and fluttery. She stumbled into the medical hall to see Doctor Prince lying stomach-down on Gumball's legs. The two princes were staring angrily up at Marshall, as was Cake. "Holy cow, you guys are loud." Fionna complained groggily. She ran her hand over her face, back through her slightly messy hair. She had no idea what happened to her hat. Gumball was surprised by her presence, then became angry.

"Glob, Marshall! I told you to stay upstairs!" He got up and dusted himself off, showing as much spite as he possibly could.

"Why, PG? He's cool." Fionna said, before losing her balance. She was blacking out. Marshall zoomed in just in time to catch her unconscious body before she hit the ground. The strain caused his wound to hurt, and he made a small whining noise. Nobody thought anything of it.

"Just where do you think you're goin' with her?" Cake called after the vampire, as he floated the girl back in the direction she came from.

"To kill her, obviously." Marshall said with a type of angry sarcasm. Marshall carried the girl with ease, floating through the halls. Her hair dragged on the ground. The layout of the castle was relatively similar, but many of the rooms had changed places. He headed to the guest room he always used to use, but now it was another laboratory. He headed up to the second floor, and gently laid her on her side in the nearest room with a bed. He avoided putting her in Gumball's room. He closed the curtains, locked the door, then sat down on a chair beside the bed. He watched her sleep, his fingertips pushing against each other, stretching his fingers out. Marshall felt kinda creepy, sitting there. He was around Gumball for a few minutes and the creepiness had already rubbed off on him. Marshall smiled at his own mental joke.

As he got progressively more bored, he paced around the room. It was one of those days where you don't feel like doing anything because your ex almost killed your crush. He had no idea how much time had passed, but nobody had come to bother them. Marshall wondered if they were still talking down about him. Eventually, he sat down on the bed. He clasped his hands together and looked over at Fionna's face. Why was he sitting here behind a locked door with her? Her hair covered her like a blanket. It was surprising she fit it all in her hat. He reached over and gently brushed some hair over her ear. It revealed the fresh scar on the left side of her neck. He gingerly touched it, which caused the girl to stir in her sleep, giving a slight groan. He pulled back his hand. Marshall could barely stand to see her hurt. He wondered if he should tell her the way he felt. It would probably be overwhelming for her, since she was so sensitive about this sort of thing, and Gumball was already going after her. Marshall didn't feel like doing anything else that day, after what had happened. He only wanted to keep Fionna safe. He put two fingers on the holes in his neck, tracing them.

What would it have been like if she became a vampire? What if she d… Marshall couldn't think the words. He felt as if his life would have no meaning if Fionna were gone. He heard people coming down the hallway. People who thought little of him, no matter what he did. He kept quiet, hoping they would pass. He wasn't in the mood to deal with them right now. He heard doors being opened down the hall. "Fionna?" Cake called. Doctor Prince and Gumball both called the same thing, over and over again. The constant squeak of door hinges. It was as if they were looking for a lost dog. The search party neared the room that the two were hiding in, and Fionna began to stir at the sound of her name. She would make a small moaning noise in response to their calls as she switched position on the bed. The swishing of the sheets was making a small amount of noise, so Marshall picked her up. When the doorknob to their room jiggled, Cake yelled to the others. "This door's locked!" Someone else came up to the knob and tried it. This time the jiggle was followed by Gumball's voice.

"It's locked from the inside." There was a bang on the door, one that just barely made it convex. Maybe they could escape out the window. Marshall's hand singed as he stirred the blinds. No, it was still the middle of the day. "Marshall! We know you're in there! You need to get away from her!" Did they think he was still a danger to her? The bleeding had stopped a long time ago. Marshall could control himself as long as her blood stayed contained. "Come out, dammit!" Marshall said nothing. What a bunch of untrusting pricks. "Fine. We're coming in!" There was louder and louder banging on the door, Fionna stirring more with each impact. Eventually, she woke up.

"Marshall?" She squinted up at him. Just then, the door shattered into gingerbread crumbs as Doctor Prince tumbled into the room. "What are you doing?" Fionna squirmed a little bit, confused. She kept waking up in random places in the castle, not remembering how she fell asleep in the first place.

Cake, Gumball, and the Doctor's jaws dropped. They saw Fionna struggling against the vampire, and jumped to conclusions. Especially Cake. This was the second time she walked in on a scene like this. If she left Fionna alone for an hour she would get into some sort of trouble, it seemed. And it usually had to do with boys. Cake felt that she would really have to keep tighter security when it came to her sister. Even if that meant she would have to stand up to a vampire. She steeled herself and walked into the room. Marshall could smell her fear, but saw no signs of it. Cake lifted Fionna out of his arms.

"That's enough. Get out."

"The sun's still out." He pulled the curtain back a little, allowing a ray of sunlight to land on the floor. "And if you hadn't noticed, I'm almost as beat up as her." Marshall lifted the shirt he was wearing to reveal the large splits in his gray skin. They had healed a little bit more, but they were still fairly large. Cake flinched a little at the sight. But she was still angry.

"I don't really care. My sister is off-limits."

"Cake!" Fionna looked at her sister with an appalled look. Why was she being so mean to him? He didn't do anything. "I don't get what junk makes you so mad about Marshall." She pushed her sister away and stood. "He didn't do anything." That wasn't true. The reason Fionna got hurt was because Marshall loved her. He tried to hide the sting. "Seriously, guys." As she exited the room, Gumball tried to help her. "No. I can walk on my own." She wobbled unsteadily down the hallway.


	13. Chapter 13: Chords

Marshall sat at home. He was frustrated with the whole situation. He was also amazed that his wounds had only half healed. Generally twelve hours was enough to fully recover. And nobody could stand to be around him, even more so than before. "It's like I'm not… even a person, am I? I'm just their problem." He sung quietly to himself. How was it that everybody hated him? He wasn't bad. Well, not considering the small amount of time they had known him. Marshall was a different person than he was before. At first, he was a good person. He had to be, for Simone. He remembered how lost he felt when Simone left him. She wasn't his mentor anymore. She was the incarnation of winter. Eventually, she would leave for days at a time and wouldn't recognize him if she passed by. Her crown stayed on at all hours of the day. Many times, Marshall tried to strike up a conversation with her and each time it was more difficult to get her to remember him. She kept calling him Gunther.

Eventually, his real mother started talking to him. He was scared of her at first. _Why do you think you survived the Mushroom War? Why are your ears pointed and why do you have gray skin?_ It was a lot for him to take in. Eventually Simone had so much difficulty recognizing Marshall, she saw him as a threat. In her last moment of sanity, she decided to leave him. He was all alone. How could she leave him when he was sick?

Ugh. He needed to calm down. He was getting flustered about everything all at once. Maybe he wasn't healing because of all the anxiety.

It seemed that the opposing party only made Marshall want Fionna more. It made her more of a forbidden fruit. Just then, Marshall realized that he still had a song to write. It was much easier for him to write a song when he was emotional, and it helped him blow off steam. He grabbed his guitar and his tattered notebook full of songs. It was practically his diary, but with rhymes and chords. He flipped to the second-last page which had the small bit of song on it. He put his fingers on the frets and played the C written on the page.

"Good little girl," His fingers were on Am.

"You're what I'm looking for.

I want you so bad…

You know that you mean the world."

No. Even though it had a really nice flow to it, there wasn't really anywhere to go from that point. And it made him seem really creepy. Maybe he should make it less obvious. The guitar strings made a small sliding noise as he ran his fingers back to the C position. The framework of the song was flexible, so he changed the syllables around a bit.

"Good little girl,

Always picking a fight with me.

You know that I'm bad,

But you're spending the night with me." He liked it. He wrote it into the notebook. It reminded him of the time that she asked him to come to a couple's movie night. He really didn't want a relationship at that point, and he tried to scare her away. But she was too stubborn. He went when she told him it was a 'just friends' thing. It also reminded him of the time Fionna became his Thrall in the place of an old man, back when they were still unfamiliar with each other. She was so passionate about saving the day… He didn't understand why she hung out with an ex-evil guy.

"What?

Do you want?

From my world,

You're a good little girl." He smiled as he scrawled the lyrics and chords on the page. Maybe when it was finished he could sing it to her. Getting into the castle was a problem, though… Maybe by that time everyone would have calmed down about the whole incident.

"Don't you know I'm a villain?

Every night I'm out, killin',

Sendin' everybody running like children?" He stopped because he had run out of ideas, but also because there was a knock on the door. He was surprised that anyone other than him was awake at this hour. As he got up off his couch, he saw that an envelope had fallen to the floor in front of the slot in the front door. He picked it up and flipped it so he could see the front. There was a postage stamp from Lumpy Space on it. He stared at it, and found the doorknob without looking up. When he raised his eyes again, he had opened the door. Nobody was there. He stared out into the darkness, and he could see the outline of someone dissolving into a treeline. They were fast! He couldn't make out their color because it was pitch black outside, and they were too far away for him to see any detail. He neatly tore the top of the envelope. _The Royal Prince of Lumpy Space cordially invites you to a party in the woods. Bring a friend!_ The party was dated a few days from now. Hopefully Fionna would be feeling better by then.

**[I really just threw this at you guys because I haven't posted anything new for a while. There's probably some mistakes in there... feel free to point them out. And when I see new reviews on my stories, it motivates me to write them more. So if you're sick of waiting, keep writing reviews...Now I have to think of some Gunther-related filler to put in my other story. Damn.]**


	14. Chapter 14: Games

"Who wants to play videogames?" Fionna's eyes opened at the sound of a familiar voice. She adjusted herself so that she would be sitting upright. She rubbed her eyes as little plastic feet clacked closer to her bed. BMO giggled as she climbed onto the hospital bed. She began bouncing up and down.

"Hey BMO! What's up?" Fionna mumbled. Cake came into the room carrying Fionna's signature green backpack.

"Brought you some stuff. Thought you might want some jammies." She placed the backpack on the bed in front of her sister.

"Thanks dude." Fionna said before rummaging through her stuff. She found her hat and slipped it on. A strand was dangling loosely from the opening of the hat.

"We need to wash your shirt again. It'll be hard to get the stain out."

"S'okay bro. So…What 'yall doin' here?" BMO climbed further up Fionna's stomach.

"I wanted to play _Conversation Parade_!" The 8-bit tune of the game started to play as BMO smiled in anticipation. The room was silent except for BMO. She started bobbing up and down to the beat as everyone stared blankly at her.

"Nah. I'd rather play Guardians of Sunshine." Fionna replaced all of the items in her backpack and stood up. "Why don't we go play in the common room?" Fionna was desperate for a change of scenery. Cake stood by to help her walk, but Fionna was already running down the hall.

"Hey! You're supposed to take it easy, girl!" Cake yelled after her. BMO ran past the cat to catch up.

"Yaaaaaaaa- Oof!" BMO tripped and fell face down. She picked herself back up and continued running down the hallway. "Yaaaaaaaay!" Fionna plopped down on one of the pink couches and began to play. Cake walked in and noticed that one of the couches was missing all of its cushions. It smelled gross, there were small brown stains on it.

She joined Fionna and the blue-green console on the couch and picked up a controller.

"We're gonna beat this game today!" Fionna declared excitedly.

"I'm gonna beat it before you!" Cake jeered in response.

"You can't beat me! I'm bloobalooby!" The sisters both laughed at the memory of the first time that Gumball had used that phrase. After a few deaths as a result of Sleepy Sam, Fionna struck up a conversation.

"Hey, Cake?"

"Yeah, girl?" Cake didn't take her eyes off the game.

"How come you hate Marshall Lee?" Cake did a double-take, causing her Sunshine Guardian to fall into a flaming pit and lose a life. She cleared her throat.

"I don't." Cake's character respawned right as Fionna paused the game.

"Don't lie to me. You're a total patoot to him! He saved my life, Cake." Fionna was unsure how to feel. She'd never needed someone like that… Cake was the only one that she could really count on to have her back.

"It's a Cat thing! You would understand if you were-" Cake stopped midway through her sentence.

"If I were what? Older?" Fionna became angry at her sister.

"No! That's not what I was going to say!" Cake panicked as she tried not to hurt her sister's feelings. But Fionna realized what Cake was trying to say. She struggled to hold back tears. She couldn't help whether she was adopted or not.

"That's low, man." Cake grimaced at her mistake. She was supposed to protect her sister. She wasn't supposed to make her cry. Ever.

"Fi! Don't cry! I didn't mean it like that!" She went to hug her sister.

"But that's what you meant." Fionna's tears seeped into her sister's fur. Cake hugged tighter as Fionna sobbed quietly.

"Fionna, do you remember all those stories Mom told us 'bout the war?" Cake stroked her sister's back in an attempt to calm her down.

"The Mushroom War?"

"No. The battle for Aaa."

"Not really." Fionna sniffled.

"Well, a whole bunch a' armies from the Nightosphere just marched into Aaa one day. They came through one of the nicest forests in all a' the kingdoms, and they turned it into the Dark, Scary Forest. That's where the Cat family was livin' at the time." BMO had gone into sleep mode. "All the kingdoms sent their warriors and stuff over and helped the animals get the math outta there. When all of the armies in Aaa came back to the forest once everyone was safe, they fought the demons back into the Nightosphere, all the way to the vampire that started the whole thing.

"They made swords out of the demon's blood when they realized all the cool stuff it did. Aunt Schwabelle was leading the charge of animals. So, Yeah. They met that vampire dude and he killed her. No mercy or anything." There was silence. "Now do you understand?" Fionna wasn't sniffling anymore. She unlatched herself slowly from Cake and looked at her.

"Yeah. I guess."

"It's just a history thing, Fi. I'm natural enemies with vampires." Cake refrained from telling the whole truth.

"But that's dirtballs. He never did anything to you."

"You're right. I'll be nicer." There was another silence. "So… You wanna play Kompy's Castle?"

"Awwww Yeaaahhh! I rock at that game!" Fionna woke BMO up and began having a random conversation with her. Cake tried not to let her face show what she was thinking. The person who started that war was the Vampire King, but she would never tell Fionna.

Prince Gumball entered the room. "Here's your shirt, _sans_ stain." He handed it to Fionna. "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty Rhombus." She replied casually, accepting her clothing.

"Well, I'll have to send you out for some more Cyclops tears once you're feeling better. I'll need to experiment on it to isolate the healing enzymes."

"I could get some right now." She paused the game and started to stand up.

"No, get some more rest just in case. I wouldn't want to be pushing it if I were you." He pushed her shoulders down gently so that she was forced to sit down again.

"Well, I won't stay after tomorrow. I need to go do some dungeons." Gumball sighed. Her mind was already set. There was no stopping her.

"Fine. Just be careful out there, and try not to exert yourself too much." He put on a fake smile to try and hide his concern.

**[Trying to piece together the rest of the story... Don't worry. It'll be a long one. We haven't even gotten into the fluff yet. It'll be my first time writing fluff... So I hope that it's half-decent.]**


	15. Chapter 15: Confused Intrusion

Marshall snuck into the treehouse expertly through the moonlight, guitar hanging from his back. He knew every entrance, exit, and secret passageway in the house. He chose the weak spot in the roof of the attic, lifting up a branch to reveal all of the junk they kept up there. Yet again, he was unsure why he was doing this. Although, he snuck into their house often .When it came to Fionna, it seemed, he could be very illogical. Fionna was still in recovery, to his knowledge. Marshall was amazed at how slow mortals healed. He wondered how they survived at all. Although, his slash wounds were still slight scars. Marshall wondered if they would ever heal properly.

He was just going to hang around in the living room and wait until they got home, but he was intrigued by the collection of stuff in the attic. Most of it was nonsensical disorder, but there were a few treasures. Ancient books in languages he couldn't read. Some that he knew a little bit of. Amulets, weapons, and other religious artifacts that he was sure they didn't know anything about. The religious artifacts reminded him of his father, even though he didn't really remember his dad. Marshall grabbed one of the books written in Gaelic and another one written in Latin. He headed down to the main floor.

Cake would flip out if she knew he was here. She would probably ask for an explanation, but Marshall didn't have one. Except for boredom, and inviting Fionna to LSP's party. Cake was always wary of him, but never as high-strung as this. Maybe she somehow knew that her sister's near-death experience was a result of Marshall's actions. He hovered leisurely through the house, memories flourishing. Where his furniture used to be, Fionna's replaced it. The shelves that used to be filled with Ashley's potion supplies were replaced by small trinkets and trophies from Fionna's adventures. The same way that she replaced Ash in his heart. He looked through the fridge, and there was an uncooked steak sitting there waiting to be eaten. He sat on the couch, absentmindedly sipping it. Something with blood in it… It was a nice change of pace. He looked at the ripped painting on one of the shelves. It really suited the ambiance of the room. Marshall knew that Fionna was no interior designer, but the room definitely suited her.

The house smelled different. It still smelled like the same house, but with more of a sweet scent. He tried to struggle through one of the books. These languages were dead everywhere except in the Nightosphere. Apparently, they were old languages _before_ the mushroom war. He picked up a little bit from Simone, and would commonly use Latin terms in codes back in the days when he was part of a gang. Marshall wondered if he was just going to wait here for Fionna to get back. He wanted to ask her to come to Lumpy Space Prince's party tomorrow… Hopefully she would be recovered by then. He strummed the chords for his song, thinking of new lyrics to polish it off.

Eventually, he became lost in his memories. Like the first time they met, three years ago when he returned from his trip around Aaa. She was still young, she still sounded like a kid. Funny, he scared the plop dumps out of the two, and after introducing himself he kicked them out of the treehouse. And stole BMO, messing up all their highscores. He then heard that two famous adventurers were throwing a party, and he wanted to meet famous people of Aaa. He came to the party, not realizing that it was just Fionna and Cake again. He decided that it was more fun to bother them, so he kicked them out of their new cave. Then he threatened to kill Cake… Maybe that was one of the reasons she was so wary of him. He had an epic battle with Fionna because she thought that Cake was actually dead. It was then that he decided they were worthwhile friends. That was back before he learned to properly use his Axe-Guitar.

From that point on, most of the stuff he did was just to mess with them. He found it much too fun, and spied on them regularly. Cake used to be so scared of him… It was liberating for some reason. He would set up scenarios just to see what the dynamic duo would do in response. He called his old 'henchwoman' out and forced her to do menial things such as entertainment. She was really just one of his friends that owed him a favour. Fionna took her place, being an honest hero, and Marshall kept putting her into awkward situations. Fionna was just fun to toy with. And Cake was too scared to effectively help her sister out. People thought that they were a couple. He just teased and teased her… Because he knew she could take it. He was pretty much using the opportunity to show off to her. Cake finally faced her fear and attacked Marshall, but this time Fionna was protecting him. They soon became the best of friends.

Or like Couple's Movie Night a few years ago. Cake had called him and asked him to come help her get a date. Obviously, she meant Gumball, so he agreed. He always loved messing with Gumball. Marshall was already inside the house when she called, and snuck up behind her. Marshall and Cake were competing over dating advice for Fionna, all the while Marshall was giving her terrible advice. He thought her gullible nature was cute, and used Fionna to prank Pinky. There was one point where he took Fionna out into the wilderness and they ran with a pack of wolves. They carried two of the wolves back with them and unleashed them into Gumball's room. Marshall silently chuckled at the memory of Gumball's expression. Eventually, Fionna asked Marshall to go with her. He tried to scare her away, but she wasn't even phased by his scariest forms. They just went and crashed the event.

So many good memories… It was hard to believe that they did all that cool stuff together in only three years of knowing each other. It made sense to him now. He loved her because she was simply the right one for him. Just thinking of her made his chest feel all tight and his cheeks warm. It was worth the struggle. He would never meet a girl like Fionna ever again. The last human.

* * *

**[yeah...This was weak. I know. I just pretty much explained a couple episodes. But stuff's going to happen again, I promise.]**


	16. Chapter 16: Let's Just Go

The door to the house opened. Marshall opened his eyes slowly, expecting it to be Fionna coming to visit him. But he glimpsed up at a wood-planked ceiling before he realized that he wasn't at home. He was at Fionna's house! Quickly and silently, he shoved the books he was reading underneath one of the couch cushions and threw the limp, greyish steak he ate earlier out the window. He could hear them mumbling as they came up the ladder into the living room. He became invisible and hid himself in one of the top corners of the room. "It's so great to be back home!" Fionna said rather loudly as she plopped her backpack onto the floor. She pulled herself up off the ladder and then moved the backpack onto the couch that Marshall had been sleeping over just a minute ago. "Although, today wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be."

Cake put BMO down on the floor near the ladder and went to the fridge. She opened it. "Well, what did you expect, honey? Gumball's not going to send you out on a big dangerous mission on your first day out." She moved around a couple things in the fridge. "Hey, Fi? Did you touch that steak?"

"No, why?" Fionna answered, looking up from the open chest she was sitting in front of. Cake shrugged and grabbed a couple miscellaneous foods, then managed to squeeze them into a tortilla. She came closer to Fionna, and Marshall held his breath. He was fully expecting Cake to sense him again, for her tail to fluff up dramatically. But nothing happened.

"Whatcha lookin' for?" Cake took a bite out of her Everything Burrito, the contents now oozing out of the top.

"Something to do. I'm pretty bored." Fionna churned the contents of the chest around. "Whoa! When did we get these?!" She pulled out two mismatched tomahawks, staring at them with her big, blue eyes.

"I think those were from that gladiator coliseum." Cake mumbled, her mouth full of food. She must've calmed down quite a bit, because Marshall was hiding from her as easily as he normally did when spying on the two.

Fionna stood up and tested out the blades with a couple of impressive slashes, dodging and countering as if she were in a real fight. It was almost like watching a dance. She jumped backward and whipped one of the tomahawks into the wall. It wobbled as it protruded from a knothole underneath a window. She smiled triumphantly. Marshall loved her smile. She was usually smiling, and some days it made his life more bearable.

"Hey, BMO!" Fionna called to the console, who was currently trying to balance on an apple. BMO fell off and hit the floor with a light _clack_.

"Yes, Fionna?"

"Put that apple on your head, and sit down over there." She pointed with the tip of the blade.

BMO obeyed, sitting in front of the tree's trunk, which had boards nailed to it in a ladder pattern.

"Okay! Ready!" The console banged its heels on the floor as Fionna struck ridiculous stances, making 'haiyah!' noises, and Cake cheered her on. They were always having fun… Marshall felt bad that he didn't hang out with them a lot. He would have to change that. With a louder grunt, Fionna whipped the small axe at the apple. The board behind it split and fell to the ground aside the perfectly split apple halves. BMO was unharmed. She gave a thumbs-up.

"Oooh, nice throw!" Cake admired her sister's accuracy.

Fionna turned to face her. "Thanks. I've gotta do _something_ today."

"What about Gumball's mission we went on this mornin'? Deliverin' daisy chains to the Fluffy people not enough for you?" That sounded like the most feminine and dainty mission in the world. Hence, the answer to that question was no. Marshall couldn't see the expression on Fionna's face, but he imagined it was kind of an awkward grimace.

"Eeeeh…Sometimes Gumball's missions can be so… lame." She wound up to throw the other tomahawk, and released it just as a familiar-sounding "Hello, everybo-" drew Marshall's attention to the direction it was flying.

Gumball squeaked in surprise as the axe harmlessly sliced through his haircut. He stood there in his pink apron, with his pink cream puffs as his pink bubble-gum hair gently flopped out of place. Fionna and Cake both gasped.

"Oh, my!" He exclaimed, looking up at his hair. "Looks like _you_ almost skronked up my dome-piece!" He licked his finger and thumb on his free hand and stuck it back together. Those cream puffs smelled awesome…Marshall always did like the Prince's cooking. Gumball smiled when his hair was fixed again. He began to approach the sisters. "Boy, have I got a treat for you two! The Fluffy people and I baked these in appreciation for the mission you've completed." He held them out toward Fionna. "They're cream puffs. Try one." He waved them up and down in an attempt to get her to eat one.

"Uhhh…I'd love to…but…maybe later." She said awkwardly. She was probably still frazzled about whatever happened between them at that party. Marshall could see that she needed an excuse to get out of the conversation, and knocked over a wooden container on a nearby shelf. "What was that?" Everyone began scanning the room, Fionna looking out the rain-spattered windowpane. Marshall figured that now was a good time to interrupt. He zoomed behind her with all the speed he had, making her gasp. She turned around to see that Gumball's platter no longer had any cream puffs.

"Uh!...Awwww." Gumball's surprise turned into disappointment. Marshall chuckled silently to himself as he floated up through the rain, his wet hair sticking to his face. His hair impaired his vision a bit, allowing him to misjudge the distance he was above the roof, and he landed with a loud thud. He began playing his guitar, wanting to show off for Fionna. He closed his eyes and strummed. He heard a gasp, followed by a put-off Gumball saying "Oh. It's just _him_."

Marshall continued strumming and opened his eyes. "Oh, hey Fionna." He said in a seductive tone.

"Marshall Lee!" Fionna exclaimed, holding an umbrella over herself, the cat in her hat, and the prince on her back. Gumball didn't do much of anything for Fionna, except use her like a pawn. But she did everything for him. Marshall really didn't get why Fionna was so into Gumball. Almost as if reading Marshall's thoughts, the Pink Prince cleared his throat.

Marshall stopped strumming. "Oh, forgive me! _Hello_, your majesty." He mock-bowed, then took a cream puff out of his shirt and tauntingly sucked the pink from it.

"Fionna, take me back inside." The prince demanded.

"Whaaaat…Is he kidding?" Marshall threw the grey cream puff into Gumball's face.

"Oh! Honestly!" Gumball climbed off of Fionna's back, taking the umbrella with him. "I'm going in. Come join me when you want more _polite_ company." He climbed back down the ladder so that he could wash the colourless cream off of his face.

"Be careful!" Fionna called down after him. There was a slipping noise and a "Whoa!" when Fionna called down again. "You got it!" Just as the door closed, the rain stopped. Marshall sighed. He hated to see the Prince treat her like that.

"What a wad."

"Heehee! A…Gum-wad?" Fionna blushed again as she put a hand up to her mouth.

"Ugh! Fionna!" Cake grumbled from inside the hat, annoyed. She couldn't have her sister participate in the Gumball hate-club. Who else was she to marry off Fionna to? This vampire?!

Marshall laughed and strummed four chords. "Let's ditch him!"

"Uuuh…"

Marshall leaned in closer. "Lumpy Space Prince is throwing a party in the woods!" He spun around and turned his head into a bat head. "It's gonna be freaking nasty!" He grew into a full-sized bat monster, his guitar hanging around his neck as if it were jewelry.

"Uuuh…"

Marshall held out his large hand. "I know you're going to say yes to me… so let's just go." She smiled and grabbed his finger. He flew her out to the party as she yelled in delight, as if she were on a rollercoaster. _Fi, this rollercoaster hasn't even started._

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__**[Well. I hope you all know that I don't own Bad Little Boy and I don't want to get in trouble for the similarities. I gotta tell you, translating a minute and a half of an episode into text takes a lot longer than it would seem... Pretty much this chapter's statement is 'Game On!" **

**Feel free to give small suggestions! I saw one that was "I hope we get to see more of LSP." So now I have to go and watch a couple more episodes... But if you want something specific to happen at the party feel free to suggest it. Because I want there to be an actual party, more FioLee action that way.]**


	17. Chapter 17: The Party In The Woods

Marshall Lee flew Fionna the whole way there, being sure to show off his fancy flight maneuvers. Fionna was probably the only girl in the world that wasn't terrified of Bat Lee, especially given the fact that Cake wasn't poking her head out of the hat at all. Marshall barely knew where the party was, but he could echolocate a good party anywhere. He also knew that he had almost arrived because of the strong smell of candy. The vampire escort gently slung Fionna off of his back as he sucked his wings back into his now regular-sized body. The fur, ears, and nose on his head receded until his features were normal. Muscle Prince was dancing with a large Gummy worm, Tree Trunks was hanging out with Ms. Pig, and Lumpy Space Prince was grinding his pencil mustache all over Cinnamon Bun. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. A female Maurader fight caught Marshall's attention. "This looks fun. A bunch! C'mon." He grabbed Fionna's hand again, this time more gently, and he led her into the heart of the party. He could practically feel Cake's overprotective vibe. Lumpy Space Prince, being the loud and obnoxious host, yelled for them across the field.

"Hey! Marshall Lee! Fionna! Get your lumps over here!" They obeyed, because with LSP, you just sort of have to. "Oh, yeah, I'm havin' a fun time. Probably the funnest time I ever had in my whole life!" He mumbled, swaying back and forth to the slow jazz music. It was fairly discordant, the band wasn't very good. Marshall couldn't see a band, craning his neck to look around. The stage was empty. Maybe it was just a stereo or something. They were now a part of LSP's little huddle. Everyone was swaying to the music. "Fionna! You're looking a little more lumpy! I like it!" Fionna grimaced and gave herself a once-over.

"You look fine, Fi." Marshall whispered to her.

"…I was gonna say that." Cake grumbled to herself. For someone who always wanted to hook her sister up with random princes, she sure felt threatened by Marshall's presence. As if the Cat and the Bat were competing for attention now. Gotta admit, Cake was clingy. She was currently dating Monochromicorn, and Fionna just let her go out and do whatever. But as soon as it was Fionna's turn to go on a date, Cake was micromanaging the whole thing. Although, Marshall supposed, the sisters didn't know it was a date. He would just have to put up with Cake. He would have to get on good terms with her, eventually.

"At least everybody isn't like, _all over_ your lumps! I can't even get any space. Everybody just wants me." LSP crossed his arms over his chest. One of the Marauders came up behind the floating prince to ask if there was any more punch. She put a hand on his…shoulder-lump-thing, and before she could say anything, LSP flipped out. "Get off of me! I know you want this body but you can't have it!" He gave her a weak punch to the shoulder, causing all of his knuckles to make a loud cracking noise. "Aaagh! My finger lumps!" He cried in pain as the Marauder backed away, confused. The prince floated there, grabbing his hand, wailing overdramatically for a long time. Which seemed even longer because of the awkwardness. Eventually, when he realized that he was fine, Lumpy Space Prince began chattering on and on as usual. Something about eating chili-fries with his ex-girlfriend, Brandi. And how Mel stole her away. And how his life was just a gigantic drama bomb. Marshall was rather bored with the conversation, when he realized that LSP had been at the Gumball Ball.

"Hey, LSP? What did you think about the Gumball Ball?" Marshall knew that Lumpy Gossip Prince was bound to tell him something of value.

"That party was laaaame! The only fun part was Cake."

Cake poked more of her head out of Fionna's hat. "Damn straight!"

"Ice Queen came and crashed the whole thing, all like 'LSP I want your lumps' but I was like 'If you want these lumps, you gotta put a ring on it!' but I totally don't want her to because she's lumping crazy! And she started freezing people and it was just, like, so awful."

Well. That didn't really give Marshall any information that he didn't already know. Except that Simone had frozen a few people. But that didn't tell him what her plan was to begin with. Or why Fionna was so shaken up by it. She was trying to keep a straight face.

"So, anyway, you guys are like, dating now? You're such a cute couple, guys."

Fionna stuttered, unable to make a sentence. Leave it to LSP.

"No, they ain't." Cake was the first to speak. She never wanted to see her sister in love with a vampire. She never wanted to see her sister become a vampire. She never wanted anything to do with a vampire. Marshall grimaced, but quickly regained composure before anybody could notice. He was about to change the subject, because he knew how uncomfortable Fionna must've been, when his blood went cold. He looked around, but because he was trying to be discreet, he couldn't take a good look. The boombox that had been playing stopped.

"Awww, guys. We listened to all the music, and now my party sucks." The host pouted. Marshall was beginning to lose his patience with the whiny purple lump. "Hey, Marshall Lee! Why don't you play a song?"

Marshall jumped at the opportunity for three reasons. To show off for Fionna, to get away from LSP, and to get a view of the crowd to see who caused his chill.

"Yep. Let's do it!" Marshall took Fionna's hand again, and walked her up to the stage. He walked over, it just seemed more polite.

"YOU GUYS! MARSHALL LEE IS GONNA PLAY A SONG, YOU GUYS!" LSP shouted as they approached the stage. Marshall spun the guitar around so that instead of hanging on his back, it sat at his hip, waiting to be played. The entire party cheered his name. His hands automatically went to the chords for his latest song. It was still unfinished, but he was pretty good at improvisation. Fionna stood beside him awkwardly.

"Follow my lead." He whispered to her. He began to play the chords, and little skeleton butterflies in the crowd backed him up with their little ukuleles. He struck a few poses, waiting for her to copy before moving to the next, and with the last pose he began to wiggle his butt.

"Hey!" Fionna said playfully before shoving him off balance. He smiled back while floating, as if to say 'Nice try'. He began to play the song.

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**[ Sorry for the wait. This had been finished for a while, just sitting on my computer. And then my computer was dead, and I had forgotten my charger at a relative's house and... It was just a fiasco. But now I'm in a good mood because I got tickets to Sonic Boom, so I thought I should get around to updating. Because I don't feel like studying for finals. So... The next chapter is basically done, but I don't want too get too far ahead of Cold Criticism, so I'm going to go work on that. See you. **

**Even though I don't see you, you just see my stuff... but not me... because that's creepy.**

**Focus, Dae. Okay! Back to work!**

**Thanks to Maguffium239 for helpful ideas!] **


	18. Chapter 18: Not So Bad, Huh?

"Good little girl," He sang, noticing that Fionna and Cake were lending their voices to the song. "Always picking a fight with me, you know that I'm bad, but you're spending the night with me," Fionna must've told Cake to be nice to him beforehand. Cake grew in size until she was standing on Fionna's head, wearing her hat. Fionna's hair fell to the stage, which Marshall was sure every man in the crowd melted at the sight of. Cake was now shaped like her sister, dancing as she pleased. "What…Do you want, from my world, you're a good little girl." Marshall threw down his guitar and floated up to Cake. He grabbed her gently and began to twirl around in a dance. The ukuleles were still backing up the song, and Fionna began to sing.

"Bad little boy," the crowd cheered for their favourite hero. Even Marshall was impressed by her singing voice. And her ability to just jump into a song she didn't know. "That's what you're acting like. I really don't buy… That you're that kind of guy." As Marshall spun Cake around in a dance that both of them were wary of, he noticed a group of ghosts floating above the trees, spectating. Wendell, BooBoo, and Georgina. If they saw that he was being a nice guy… Marshall endured a split second of panic. They were probably here to spectate upon the ruler of the vampires, and they would probably report back to the Nightosphere. Marshall really wasn't in the mood to cause another uprising, so he had to think fast. "And, if you are," Marshall rolled cake smoothly into a dip. Her eyes were closed, while he let himself slide into autopilot, his eyes red pupils surrounded by black. Hopefully it would be just enough to get the ghosts off of his trail. He knew that he would regret it. "Why do you want to hang out with me?" He hissed and bared his teeth, and Fionna ran over to save her sister. Marshall floated upwards, laughing. Even though that was the opposite of what he wanted to do when he saw the hurtful look that Fionna was giving him and the angry, disappointed look from Cake. The moonlight illuminated his silhouette.

"Don't you know I'm a villain?" He closed his eyes leaned back comfortably as if he were lying on a floor. "Every night I'm out killin', Sendin' everyone running like children?" That part wasn't necessarily true. He was torn between showing off for Fionna and showing off for his fellow demons. "I know why you're mad at me. I've got demon eyes," He opened them to let everybody in the crowd see him, menacing and fierce. "And they're staring right through your anatomy." He began to twist in the air, floating back down to the stage. "Into your deepest fears, baby I'm not from here. To me you're clear, transparent." He landed daintily on the stage in front of them. "You've got a thing for me girl, it's apparent."

Cake ran up in front of him, yelling "Oh! OH!" She pushed him out of the way, and began to sing her own song about potatoes or something. Marshall was beginning to get annoyed. She started to wiggle her butt to the crowd, and Fionna walked up to Marshall. She didn't look mad. She had probably just assumed he was playing around, as he usually was.

"You're not so bad, you know." Fionna had tucked her hair back into her hat. Again, Marshall was surprised how much hair she could hide in there.

The ghosts could probably still hear him. "Not so bad, huh? I'm the son of a demon. And, the Vampire King. It's not something I have to try at." It was pretty easy to be either way for Marshall, really. He was Chaotic neutral. But his default setting was supposed to be evil. "You on the other hand…" He was unsure if he could tell her the reasons he was acting out. Would it scare her? He didn't want to tell her that he was in love with her. Or that he was scared for her safety. He was really confused as to what he should do at the current moment in time.

"I'm not trying to be bad. I'm hanging out with you because you're my _friend_." The way she accentuated 'friend'… He was pretty deep into the friend zone. But he was the Vampire King. He'd find a way to take it to the next tier.

He pulled out another Cream puff, the white dust coating his fingers. "What, like him?" He blew the icing sugar into Fionna's face. She sputtered and waved the air around her head.

"No! Different!" She lunged at him, but he stepped out of the way. She corkscrewed to the ground. So…even though she felt weird around Gumball, she still liked him. Marshall was confused. With a smile, Fionna kicked his feet out from under him.

"Oh, No!" He said sarcastically, floating on his back casually. As he laughed, he wondered whether this little fight was helping or hindering him regarding the Ghost Gang. But it was a mistake to let your guard down around Fionna. An elbow dug into his stomach, flattening him on the ground. Out of reflex, he kicked. His foot collided with the Adventuress's face, sending her sliding across the stage. The Ghost Gang was still watching. Everybody was. The trio were up on display. The skeletal butterflies stopped playing, leaving silence for the vampire to chuckle. It hurt him to hurt her, but if he didn't display his dominance, he feared that she would be hurt a lot worse.

Cake returned to her normal form as she ran between them, arms spread protectively. "Hey, break it up you two!" In a split-second impulse, auto- Marshall decided to push Cake out of the way.

"Outta my way, kitty." Cake tumbled into a bush as Marshall neared his 'date'.

Fionna gasped. "Hey!" She ran to the bush where her sister had fallen.

"Oh, come on! That was funny!" Obviously Fionna didn't agree. When Marshall parted the bushes and followed, Fionna was picking up her sister.

"Come on, let's get outta here." Fionna walked away in a huff. Maybe Cake was right about Vampires. It was a shame… Fionna had been enjoying herself. For a little while, she had forgotten about the whole Gumball ordeal. But Fionna was starting to believe that all men were just insensitive pricks, in the end.

"Hey!" He floated to catch up. "C'mon…Where you going?" Fionna ignored him. "What's the deal?" He choked on his words a little bit. He wasn't sure whether he was protecting her or hurting her at this point. "You're missing the party." Still no reply. She kept her nose in the air, looking away from Marshall.

"Look, I don't care if you're being a jerk to _me_, but _nobody_ messes with Cake." Content in her owner's arms, the cat smiled snidely at Marshall. He deserved it, but that didn't mean that he wasn't hurt by it. He acted on impulse again. Autopilot.

Marshall Lee smiled as he circled behind the girl, until he was nearly in front of her. "Oh! Really? Well, what if I just take her right now, you know?" He grabbed the cat and floated upwards. He knew that Cake would trust him even less, but she pissed him off every time she gave Fionna the idea that she shouldn't give him a chance. Both of the girls were too shocked to react.

"What?" Fionna looked at the vampire with confusion masking her face.

He turned to look at Fionna over his shoulder. "Unexpected!" He began to laugh maniacally.

"MARSHALL!" Fionna became enraged. There was no reason why he would have to act this way. And if there was, he'd better have a decent explanation. She chased after him as he flew into a graveyard, landing on a decrepit old tomb. "Cake!" Fionna yelled across the graveyard.

"You want your Cake back? Come. And. GET HER!" He raised his arm in the air, causing a bolt of lightning to strike behind him. He summoned the skeletons from their graves, watching Fionna gasp at the stirring earth with red eyes.

**[The thing about writing a fanfiction like this is that now whenever anybody talks about Gumball or Cake I think to myself "Oh, those are my least favourite characters." When in all reality, I used to love them. I've ruined them for myself. And it makes me a little bit sad.**

**A little bit like when you do a dance routine to one of your favourite songs, but because you've heard the song so much during practices, you begin to get annoyed by it. And then you feel sad because that used to be your favourite song.**

**Anyways, wish me luck on my social studies final tomorrow! YAAAAAY MULTIPLE CHOICE!]**


	19. Chapter 19: Feign

She looked back and forth, eyeing the old weapons that were jutting out of the ground. Most of them were spears, and she hadn't any practice with those. A skeleton began to beatbox behind Marshall. He was making fun of her beatboxing now? What was this guy's deal? His eyes were red again. "Did you think I was lying? I said I'm evil without even trying," The skeletons were almost completely unearthed. Fionna hopped across headstones to try and evade them. She had to reach her sister. "Already dead, so I'm not scared of dying. Drinking the red from your heart in one sitting," A skeleton headed off the Adventuress. She was forced to stop and throw a punch. "You think you've got me pegged, you _must_ be kidding!" She smashed in the skulls of two skeletons expertly, as they were rather slow. She grabbed the handle of a blade that was sheathed to one of their backs. "I raise the dead up, and they do my bidding. Girl, I'm a thousand years old, I'm a riddle." Cake watched the skeletons encircle her sister from the arms of the vampire. Fionna was holding out the blade in one hand, the sheath in the other, on her toes, creating a circle around herself. "I'm a bad little boy, yes I'm bad, but not little." Seeing Fionna slash a few skeletons was hot. He knew that the ghosts were still watching, he could sense their presence. Maybe it would be easier for them to be a couple if Marshall just gave in and turned her.

"Uhn, uhh boy, what're you thinkin'?" Cake inquired, still struggling. It was almost as if she read his thoughts. She was right in not trusting him. Now she just hoped that her sister would see that, too. Cake grew in size, Marshall cackling. He had to admit, he was enjoying himself. He grew into a bat, squeezing and wrestling with the cat. At this point, he was in too deep. The only thing to do was go with the flow. He was a little worried that things would get out of hand… But he was doing it for their own good. Even if he didn't want to tell them that.

With a few well-placed slashes, Fionna decapitated at least three skeletons within one second. As she ran toward the tomb that the wrestlers were on top of, she ran the blade through a nearby skeleton's hollow ribcage and impaled it into the ground, pinning it like a butterfly in a collection.

"Fionna! Grab my little paws!" Cake managed to say while the air was being squeezed out of her. Her paws extended outward from the magical mass of cat and bat. Fionna tugged on Cake's paws, effectively releasing her from Marshall's grip. Fionna's immense strength caused him to lose his balance. He fell forward onto one of the many spears that were jutting out of the soil with a sickening splat noise. The spear grazing his ribcage snapped Marshall out of auto-pilot. He squeaked in pain and shrunk down to his normal self, even though it didn't hurt that much. There he lay, 'impaled' on top of the tomb. The only thing that was impaled were the mass amounts of sugary treats that were oozing against his right side, slightly stinging his new little cut. His breathing was shallow and pained, trying to lure her in.

"Marshall?" Fionna quickly picked herself up and dashed to him. All of the anger she had felt a moment ago was quickly replaced with concern.

"Oh, this is bad guys." He was almost whispering. Fionna frantically clambered up the side of the tomb. Cake followed after, and they both knelt down beside the wounded vampire. "This is really bad." The sun began to rise.

"Marshall!" Fionna sat there, astounded. What could possibly have prepared her for this situation? There was a wet blotch forming around the spear on his shirt. As the sun's rays began to find their way over the landscape, Marshall's skin simmered. He exhaled weakly. Hopefully the ghosts had gone back home. Cake stretched around him to block the light. Marshall was a little surprised that she would do that, after what he had just done. Fionna leaned in closer. "Come on! You _gotta_ be okay!" Marshall squinted at her and gave a feeble chuckle. His armpit was going to be unpleasantly sticky.

"I think this is it for me, Fionna. So…" He gasped for air. "…Why don't you just admit it? You're in _love_ with me." She gasped, and sadly, slowly bowed her head. She inhaled, trying to keep it together.

"I get that you flirt with me all the time, and it's funny and whatever," Tears began to flow. "But you're doing that now?!" She grabbed the sides of her hat, practically bawling. "What are you trying to do to my head?! You think I've got some little _crush_ on you?!" She blinked away a few tears. Marshall was taken aback. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to happen, but tears weren't what he wanted to see. "Well, for whatever time we have left… FOR ONCE DROP IT, YOU FREAK!" This had gone too far. Marshall shot up, and removed the spear as fast as he could.

"Faking it. Faking it!" He threw away the spear and unbuttoned his shirt. "Okay, my shirt is like, _filled _with cream puffs!" They leaked out with a goosh noise.

"Oh, Goodness!"Cake stopped holding her breath. Now she wouldn't have to take her sister in for therapy. Fionna stared on in disbelief.

"Glob, Fionna." He wiped the sweat from his forehead. "You're like, the _realest_ person I've ever met!" Suddenly her fist collided with his cheek. "AUH! MY CHEEK-MEAT!" He grabbed at the red spot on his face. Fionna had snapped. She raised her fists, crying and laughing. "Quit clownin', Fionna." She came in closer and closer. "Fionna? FIONNA!" She continued to hit him, laughing away. Cake smiled at the sight. Maybe Fionna would need some therapy, after all. As she went in for another punch, Marshall caught her wrist and put his feet on her stomach. He used her momentum against her and caused them both to tumble off of the tomb. He floated them gently down to the ground, his cheek still red. Now that he was in the shade, he could move around freely. "This looks like a cool place to chill." He gestured with his head toward the door of the tomb. "VAMPIRE KICK!" He yelled, before kicking the stone doors in. He floated inside a little bit, then turned to face her. "Coming?" Fionna seemed angry again as she followed him inside in a huff, stepping over the chunks of broken door that littered the stairs.


	20. Chapter 20: The Beginning Of Something

**[TEMPORARY INTERNET ACCESS! YEEEAAAAHHH! Sorry... This chapter is about 50 words shorter than I was aiming for... DON'T HATE ME PLEEEEASE!]**

She caught up to him.

"I know that you're not a bad dude. So why did you act like that?"

Marshall was unsure if he really wanted to tell her everything. So he kept her on a need-to-know basis. "Some of my old ghost friends were in the crowd tonight. They don't like to see me hanging out with mortals."

"So you had to attack my sister!?"

"I mean, they really don't like it. And if they saw me being normal, nice-guy Marshall, they might've started a fight."

"So? I could totally take 'em!" She punched her fist into her hand.

Marshall laughed. "You think so? How can you beat someone you can't hit?" He dissolved into thin air, his smile disappearing last.

"I can still hit you, ya know!" Fionna said before swinging a few punches and kicks in the air. The first few were easily dodged by Marshall, but the last kick smacked into his already bruised cheek.

He became visible again. "Oww! That's still tender!" They both laughed for a while. Once they could breathe again, there was an awkward silence.

"Hey, Marshall?"

"Yeah?"

"Why would you think that I loved you?" The silence came again. Marshall was actually never sure whether she did or not. He said that because he wanted to try and figure it out.

"I wasn't sure. I just wanted to know."

"Well, I love Gumball. Everyone knows that." She blushed. Although, Fionna was unsure of herself. Gumball was vulnerable, and he wasn't interested in her affection. He was interested in protection, both political and physical. He just wanted to be one of the few princes in the Aaa who had a wife.

"Do you really?" She was silent. "How come?" Still no answer. Marshall put a hand on her shoulder "He's no good for you, ya know."

Suddenly Cake stretched down from the ceiling and landed between the two. "Oh, and you are!?" She spread out her arms protectively like she had an hour before.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Cake looked at him like he was stupid. He realized that it was a stupid question to ask her right after what he had just done.

"Do I really have to answer that?"

Fionna still didn't understand why her sister disliked Marshall so much. "Cake. He was only protecting me." Cake turned to look at her sister.

"From what? He sent an army of skeletons after you! He's a bad dude, how many times do I hafta tell you that!?"

"You don't understand, Cake. If you could just listen-" Fionna was interrupted.

"I definitely understand. We're getting the duck outta here, girl." Cake grabbed Fionna's wrist and yanked her toward the stairs going out of the tomb. Cake knew the early signs of love, and it was time to put a stop to this.

Marshall placed his feet on the ground. "What's your problem with me? All of a sudden you decided that you hate me."

"I wasn't ever best friends with you. That was her." She gestured with her head toward her sister.

"But the past week you're suddenly all overprotective. It's pretty lame."

"I don't care. We're sisters and there's nothing you can do about it." She started dragging Fionna back up the stairs, and they both struggled against each other's strength the whole time.

"Cake, stop!" Fionna looked back at the vampire as if to say 'sorry'. Cake had to grow in size to keep dragging her sister along.

"Well, if I'm gonna be stranded here all day can you at least grab me my guitar?" Marshall called after them.

"Yeah, I will." The echo of Fionna's voice and footsteps were the last thing he heard for a while. At least Fionna wasn't mad at him anymore. Every time someone dragged the girl off like that it hurt him. He sighed and leaned against an old marble casket, rubbing the tender spot on his face. It was two-thirds healed already. After a few minutes, he heard footsteps echoing toward him. He saw Fionna with his guitar strap around her shoulder. She seemed as sad as he felt. She lifted the axe-guitar off her back, over her head, and onto him. But she didn't leave. She dug in her backpack and placed out a little bag of strawberries, an apple, and some miscellaneous red candy that she found lying at the bottom of the bag on top of the casket he was leaning against.

"It surprises me how much stuff you fit in there." They smiled at each other. Suddenly, Fionna's arms were squeezing his ribcage and her head was buried in his chest. Sticky creampuffs smeared all over her face through the hole in his shirt. It took him a few seconds of surprise before he returned it. He had a good view of the stitches on her neck. It reminded him that she was still recovering, and he felt guilty for having to put her through so much. A wizard attack, and then an army of undead skeletons.

She mumbled into his shirt. "I don't agree with her, ya know." Fionna could hear Marshall's small chuckle amplified through his chest.

"Neither do I." After a couple more seconds, he gently pushed her shoulders away. He saw how tired she looked after staying up all night partying with him, especially since she wasn't at full strength to begin with. "Now go home and get some sleep." She took a few steps up the stairs and looked back at him. "Shoo!" He made a shooing motion with his hand. She gave him a small smile before running back up the steps. Once he couldn't hear either of them, he began to absentmindedly strum the guitar. Fionna had never hugged him before.

**[I went over this a few times, but I might still have mistakes in there. Let me know if you find some.**

**(Is anybody else upset that 'Wizards only, Fools' barely had any Huntress Wizard in it? I mean, come on, guys.)]**


	21. Chapter 21: Nightmares

**[Well, this chapter is... a lot different from anything I've ever written. And I'm not sure that I'll ever write another one like it. You'll see why.]**

Cake raced Fionna over to the candy kingdom. Fionna's dress billowed in the wind as she launched herself off of her sister's back. She landed quietly and peeked through the curtain, her nerves raking at her from the inside. The room was full of candy people, but the one person that caught her eye was a guy. Pale grey complexion, black shaggy hair that sat in all the right places, red plaid shirt. As he leisurely floated backward, he saw her peeking through the curtain. She waved at him, and when he stuck out his tongue and made the 'rock on' signal with his hand, her nervous feeling went away. She felt drawn to him, but as she was about to take a step inside, she couldn't move. She couldn't control her muscles as her head turned to see the Prince. She struggled to look at Marshall again, but the rest of the room disappeared except for Gumball. A bad feeling engulfed her as his smile grew wider and wider. "I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU." His voice was too loud, it hurt her ears.

"Well, here I am." Her voice was quiet and feeble. He led her back outside the curtain, and a feeling of dread grew inside her. Fionna had relived this moment many times.

"HA, HA! HEY, I WANT TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING." The lighting on his face became more and more dramatic.

"Okay." He took her hand and led her up the stairs curving around the outside of the tower.

Cake saw them going up the stairs. "Oooooh! Okay girl, I'll see ya later!" The cat headed inside to join the rest of the party. Every inch of Fionna's body screamed as she tried to resist, but she was unable to even frown. He gestured into the open door.

_Stop._

But something else was controlling her. She was facing his bed, with rose petals littered on the floor. "What? Hey… Is this your bedroom?" She turned back to face him just as he closed the door behind him.

"Fionna…" Gumball's voice was quieter now, but that didn't make her feel any better. His fingers found the top button of his shirt and undid it. "I have a mission for you." Her body moved against her will, her arms slowly reaching up to the second button on his shirt.

_Do something!_

She couldn't. Only one tear managed to escape her eye, but he didn't take notice. Her hands still undid the buttons. He smirked in satisfaction. She couldn't call for her sister, or for anybody else. All of the buttons on his shirt were undone now, and it slipped onto the ground. His overly sweet smell invaded her nostrils as her hands were magnetized to his bare chest, their eyes locked for a moment. He gently pushed her back further into the room and slipped off her hat. Her hair fell to the floor, and as she was being pushed closer to the bed, it was being stepped on and pulled. He reached around to unlace the back of the dress.

_Wake up!_

She was back against the wall beside the bed. Fionna was really beginning to hate the colour pink that surrounded her. Just then, the door burst open. And it was someone very unexpected. He glared at Gumball with red eyes, his converse shoes stepping into the room. Fionna wanted to cry out to him, but still had no control over herself. "And just what do you think you're doing, Bonamy?" Marshall asked before cracking his neck, teeth bared. Gumball tripped over the bed in fear, breaking the spell he had over Fionna. She reached up to hold the top of her dress loosely against her chest, regaining control of her body. The prince stuttered, but couldn't form a sentence. The feeling of dread left the girl as Marshall got nearer and nearer. He grabbed Gumball around the throat with one hand and lifted him. Marshall floated him out past the staircase, into the midnight breeze. "She's _my_ good little girl. Not yours." The vampire dropped the prince, and from Fionna's angle, it looked like he had fallen to the ground. The vampire looked back at her with his red eyes, nearly expressionless except for a hint of concern. "You okay?" She nodded, but she was lying. He floated over to her and tied the back of her dress back up. He picked up her hat and slipped it on top of her hair, which was still falling around her frame, dragging the rose petals around on the floor. She felt relieved, even though Gumball was probably lying broken on the ground below. He began to leave the room.

"Wait!" Fionna yelled after him. He turned to face her quickly. "Thank you." He floated back over to her, and they stared into each other's eyes. Fionna felt safe and warm, even though she was staring into a pair of eyes that had probably struck fear into the hearts of many. Suddenly his lips were on hers, and although it was surprising, she didn't flinch or protest. His arms were around her neck and her hands were running through his hair. After a little while that felt like a long time, he broke the kiss.

"Don't mention it."

* * *

Fionna woke with a loud gasp, shooting up so quickly that her cocoon sleeping bag fell off. She was shaky and sweaty. That dream was different from the ones she usually had. But why Marshall, of all people? It had been a recurring dream every night since the Gumball Ball, and each time it was a little bit different. Sometimes she would wake up earlier, sometimes she would have to watch the whole dream play out. Sometimes the dream would start off earlier, happier. Sometimes Ice Queen appeared and just watched. Or she would just rip off her disguise halfway through, but she wouldn't stop. Usually, nobody came to save her. Nobody was there to make her feel better. And she would usually wake up screaming. Fionna wasn't sure how she felt about the dream. Especially the part where Gumball died. But it felt better than it normally did. Warm sunrays fell across her face, and the clock in her room told her that it was noon. She had slept about four hours. She sighed and flopped back down into her bed, the ears of her hat brushing the headboard. Cake was still asleep, and for that, Fionna was glad. There was no way Fionna was falling back asleep after a dream like that. She quietly got dressed for the day, packed her bag, and grabbed an umbrella before she ran out the door.

**[Getting good, huh? This was odd for me to write, and I didn't want anyone reading this over my shoulder. But I'm hoping you guys appreciate it. I will consider ideas if you're willing to send them in, although they might not get incorporated for a while.**

**To SamhainKillz1223: That was technically a kiss. So there! *Runs out of room with noodle arms*]  
**


	22. Chapter 22: An Escort

Marshall was bored. He had eaten all of his food, and couldn't find anything interesting to play on his guitar anymore. He decided to sleep. He hovered over a marble casket, thankful that he didn't have to actually lay on it. He imagined that it would be fairly uncomfortable. He had barely fallen asleep when he heard his name echo through the tomb. He thought he was dreaming at first, but then echoing footsteps followed. He opened his eyes and could only see a silhouette. The light at the top of the staircase was the brightest he had seen in a long time. He usually wasn't awake at noon. "Hello?" He sat up and put his hand at his eyebrow level. He tried to squint into the light, but the shadow blob didn't make very much sense to him.

"Marshall Lee?" Fionna neared him, holding the umbrella in one hand.

His eyes had adjusted a little by this point, and he recognized her voice. "Fi? What are you doing here?"

She held up the black umbrella. "I thought maybe you wanted to go home." He nodded, eyes barely open, and slung his axe strap over one shoulder. It dangled loosely against his folded legs as he floated over to her. Fionna opened the umbrella and handed it to Marshall. "I also… couldn't sleep."

Marshall moved the umbrella so that it would shade him once he reached the light. He noticed that the cat wasn't around. "So, where's Cake?"

"Still asleep. Cats need a _lot_. Like, fourteen hours." They walked out into the light. Marshall couldn't see a thing. He bumped into Fionna and almost dropped his umbrella.

"Do you have any sunglasses in there?" He pointed at a bright green blotch that he assumed was Fionna's backpack. She dug around for a while.

"No, but I brought you some more food." She held out an apple. He went to reach for it, but accidentally knocked it out of her hand. She picked it up, and looked at the squinting vampire. "…Maybe I should walk you home." She grabbed his hand, making sure that she kept it in the shade. He enjoyed her warmth. Physical contact with Marshall made Fionna feel better after her weird dream. They walked and talked for a while, about random things that had no significance.

"Nah. Fudge is better."

"Well, if it's not red, I'm not interested."

"Can you even eat regular food?"

"I can, but it doesn't fill me up at all. It would only be for the taste."

"Have you ever had any meatloaf?"

"No, not that I remember."

"Well, BMO makes the best meatloaf ever. You'll have to come over sometime."

Marshall doubted that Cake would approve of him coming over. He stared off in the distance. "I think I see the cave."

"Yep, there it is." Fionna confirmed.

Marshall yawned loudly."You walk too slow." He scooped her up and she held the umbrella as he sped them into the cave and through the second-floor window to his bedroom.

"I'm exhausted. You expect me to run?" Fionna queried. Marshall set her down so that she was sitting on the windowsill. He leaned his guitar against his closet door. "You wouldn't understand. I mean, you just float." Then he undid the snap buttons on his shirt all at once in one ripping motion, while yawning. He tossed the shirt and umbrella on the floor, then flopped face-down on the bed with a groan. Marshall only laid on his bed when he was really tired, too tired to hover above it. Fionna sat on the windowsill awkwardly for about two minutes. "Ummm…Marshall?"

Marshall moaned 'what' into his pillow.

"How can you sleep without a blanket?"

"I don't really get cold." His voice was muffled because of the pillow. He moved his arms underneath his pillow, his elbows sticking out on either side. His shoulder blades protruded out of his smooth-skinned back. Fionna blushed a little bit. She sat down on the bed beside him. Both of them were unsure where to go from there. After another awkward silence, Fionna dug around in her bag and found a small blanket. She laid the blanket loosely on top of him. It covered only the inside of his knees to his shoulders. She climbed down the ladder to the main floor, eyes barely open. She adjusted her position on the couch, unable to get comfortable. But there was no way she was going to go all the way back home to sleep. She fluffed the pillows and put one underneath her head, using her backpack as a really small blanket. Eventually, she fell asleep again.

**[Sorry, short chapter. But this is the only place where it made sense to cut it. Now that we're progressing more into the fluff, I have no idea what I'm doing. So bear with me.]**


	23. Chapter 23: Facing Fears

Marshall was extremely comfortable. Blankets really made a difference. He wondered if Fionna had fallen asleep on his couch. He recalled that it was really uncomfortable. And Fionna needed her rest more than he did. He remembered seeing Ashley slice into the side of her neck, the blood that soaked her shirt as he tried to revive her. He floated up off of his bed, blanket hanging around his shoulders like a cape. He ventured down to the living room, and sure enough, she was asleep on the couch. Wasn't she having difficulty sleeping earlier? How in the world did she manage to fall asleep on his really uncomfortable couch? Maybe she was just _that _exhausted. Or maybe it was something about the change in location. Nevertheless, he took the green backpack off of her torso and placed it on the floor. He draped the blanket over her and gently picked her up. She tensed for a second, then mumbled something that he couldn't understand. He floated her back up the ladder and placed her gently on the left side of his bed. Marshall slid his only pillow underneath her head. He tried to find the position he was in before. As his eyes closed, the last thing he saw was a perfect view of the scar on her neck. It left him with a horrible weight in his heart.

* * *

"Hey MarMar. Wake up!" Marshall opened his eyes at the sound of Fionna's voice. He was confused. She never used a nickname when talking to him before. He was floating above his bed with his arms crossed over his chest. It was how he usually slept, but when he fell asleep this afternoon he was too exhausted to float. He sat up and looked at her. She was wearing a tuxedo.

"What the heck…"

"Come on! Get dressed! We're going out to see Heat Signature!" Fionna threw a white frilly dress onto the bed. "Wait… Are you kidding?" A transparent version of himself whizzed past, repeating him quickly and in a high-pitched voice. "Wait, are you kidding?!" As Marshall looked on in disbelief, everything changed. They were now in the treehouse. Marshall floated awkwardly in his baggy pajama pants as he watched Cake and Lord Monochromicorn get a little personal. There was a lot of cuddling. Lord Monochromicorn became teal with light green stripes. His head ballooned while his limbs sucked back into his body, but Cake didn't seem to notice at all. MonochromiWorm began making a WAOWAOWAOWAO noise.

Marshall put his palm on his forehead. "Don't tell me it's another one of _these_ dreams." Marshall rarely got dreams. And most of the times that he did, they were magically induced. He knew exactly what he was up against. "Hey! I'm gonna kick your butt!" He yelled at the large worm. It slithered out of the window that had shifted its way behind it. Marshall had to dispatch the worm quickly. He didn't have a large supply of life energy to begin with, so he couldn't waste any time. The worm would feed on him until Marshall was too weak to fend for himself. Cake was still busy rubbing her face against nothing, and Marshall stood on the windowsill behind her. It was daylight outside. How was he going to chase after the worm? He thought up an umbrella and jumped. But instead of plummeting to the ground, he started falling upward. The gravity had been reversed! He flew downward, but his umbrella caught the wind and flew out of his grip. Marshall flinched as the sunlight flooded the space around him. He was falling upward again, but he realized that the sunlight wasn't affecting him. He looked at his hands in the sunlight. "Cool!" He smiled and whizzed toward where the worm was last seen. Escaping the dream was easier if the worm was closer to him.

Marshall blinked for a split-second, and then everything was different again. He was inside the Ice Queen's castle. There was a swarm of penguins making 'wank' noises on the floor.

"Marceline! Help me!" The muffled Queen's voice emanated from the penguin pile.

"Marceline...?" Marshall saw his reflection in one of the ice-walls. His hair was down to the floor. He was wearing a grey tank-top, blue jeans, and red cowboy boots. But most importantly, he was a girl. A hot girl. "Whoa…" Marshall hadn't seen his reflection in around 1000 years. He floated toward the ice, touching his face, her face.

"HEEEEEEEEELP!" The muffled cry reminded him that the Queen was still buried. He grabbed hold of her and pulled her upright. Except she wasn't a girl anymore. She was an old man with a long beard, her dress replaced with a tunic. But her voice still remained the same. "Thanks, Marceline." Marshall shook his head and returned to the reflection. It wasn't only him in the reflection this time. It was everyone he knew, but they were all gender-swapped. Bonamy as a girl… It suited him a lot. There was a boy in blue with a bear hat that he assumed was Fionna. There was a dog standing next to him. Marshall had never figured Fionna as a dog person. And there was a worm. It was little, but he knew it was the right one. He started to search himself for subconscious fears. Giant scissors flew toward his head, and he narrowly missed them. His hair, however, did not. As he held the bundles of his dismembered hair, he realized that this fear wasn't enough. His axe-guitar suddenly smashed against a wall. Marshall squeaked, almost in pain at the sight of it. He burst into flame, his body becoming dark, brittle charcoal, dried in the sun. Still not enough. He regained his normal state.

The worm in the reflection was barely withered. "Hey, that's enough now."

"Lump you. Do you know how many times you've tried this already?" Marshall said rather calmly. A ghost version of himself whizzed past. "Lump You!" it said in a squeaky voice. Marshall closed his eyes and focused. When he opened them, he was surrounded by red mountains. There were hooded vampires all around him. He mentally kicked himself. This wasn't scary at all. He slowly looked around himself, scanning for the part that was scary. Hooded vampire, hooded vampire, hooded vampire. He was more powerful than all of them, anyway. Hooded vampire, hooded vampire holding one of Fionna's wrists, Hooded vampire holding the other. "Oh, glob." There it was. His stomach dropped to his feet, then crawled up his throat. The look of fear on Fionna's face was what really did it for him. Marshall barely kept himself together at the sight. The landscape cracked slightly. He choked as his throat closed up, but he managed to choke out a "Leave her alone!" His face was getting hot.

"We will." One of them smiled from underneath its hood. "Afterward." They tossed Fionna into the ring with Marshall. Large cracks appeared in the ground. She stumbled, but caught herself. A wrinkled worm poked its head out of the crack, and began to make a soft WAOWAOWAO noise in the background.

"What do they want?" Fionna whispered to him.

"Uhhh…K...tch...ah,h..." He couldn't tell her, and he was trying to keep from trembling. His forehead was getting sweaty.

"I thought you didn't get scared!" Fionna was getting more and more frightened by the second. He bit the inside of his wrist and shoved it into her mouth. She gagged and pushed it away, her mouth red. "What the duck!?" He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked in her eyes.

"It'll be okay, Fi." But his pupils had turned red. Fionna gasped in pain as his fangs found their way into her neck. The world around Marshall cracked away until there was only blackness, like his usual sleeping. A raspy vampire voice echoed in his head.

_Long live the king._

**[Well, I'm not really sure whether I liked or disliked this chapter. But I guess what really matters is whether the reader likes it or not. It would've been a lot easier if there was an episode I could've basically copied and added on to like I did with 'Bad Little Boy', but sadly Marceline isn't in the episode 'King Worm' at all. There's still a few characters that I need to get in this story a little more: The Ghost Gang, Harley Abadeer, Ice Queen, and Schwabelle the zombie cat. This story still has a long way to go, and I'm surprised that it's already this long. I could make this into a book. Seriously, there is so much material here already.]**


	24. Chapter 24: He Finally Did It

**[THE WAIT IS OVER! I'm finally back and this chapter is a little bit short. Writing basically helps me remain calm during the schoolyear, and I hope reading does the same for you!]**

Marshall's eyes flicked open. He realized that Fionna had the right side of her body draped over his chest. The scar on her neck was still perfectly visible to him, the same side of her neck that he had bit her on. In his dream. He must've flipped over in his sleep. He saw a little worm slink behind a corner, defeated. But Marshall didn't feel victorious. He was still shaken about what had happened in his dream. He propped himself up with one arm, running his opposite hand through his hair. He felt sweaty. It took a lot to get his undead body to sweat. Fionna groaned at his movement, sliding a little further down on his chest. "Hey, is this your bedroom?" she grumbled. Marshall assumed she was having some sort of weird teenage fantasy about Gumwad. Not that he didn't have teenage fantasies, but Marshall didn't like seeing her think about Gumwad like that. He was about to wake her up, but she started sobbing. His hand hovered above her shoulder as tears trailed down his chest. What in the heck could she be dreaming about? He decided to continue waking her up.

"Fionna…" He whispered, gently shaking her arm. "Fionna!" He said a little louder. She grabbed his hand off of her shoulder and twisted it as far as she could before Marshall even realized what happened.

"Stop, globdamit!" Tears ran down Fionna's face as she knelt there beside Marshall, his arm at an angle that forced him to bend over so that it wouldn't pop out of place. She realized where she was and calmed down.

"Hey, you mind?" Marshall asked with a strained tone.

"Oh! Sorry!" She let him go.

He rubbed his shoulder with the opposite hand. "What is it with you and waking up all violent? Sheesh!" He looked at her, and she looked a little guilty. Her eyes flitted downward, avoiding contact with his. "Why couldn't you sleep before? …Is this the same thing?" Marshall questioned her.

"It's kind of embarrassing…"

"More embarrassing than the time your skirt got caught on that minotaur's horn and it ripped off?" Marshall chuckled. Fionna smiled and lightly punched his shoulder.

"I guess not. I just…had a bad dream."

He could tell that she didn't want to talk about it. "Awww, Bunny!" He said sarcastically before turning on his side so that he could hug her with both arms. "Don't worry. I'm scarier than any bad dream."

"Wait…How is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"I mean, like… I scare away bad dreams." Marshall was mostly convincing himself at that point.

"Oh." It was awkward, but Fionna was comfortable. She was surprised that she didn't feel wrong in this kind of situation. Marshall figured that now was as good a time as any… But the problem was that he wasn't sure how to say it. He decided to play it smooth.

"I have something embarrassing, too. To say, I mean." So much for playing it smooth. "I also had a bad dream." He paused for emphasis. Fionna looked like she was about to ask what it was about, but he cut her off by taking her hands. "I dreamt that I lost you." He locked eyes with hers, and she looked utterly shocked. "And it feels like that pretty much whenever we're apart."

"Dude…" Fionna couldn't even manage a sentence.

"And I want to make sure that I never lose you. Ever." There was a long silence.

Fionna blushed. "Did you just…"

"Yeah." Silence again. Marshall subconsciously bit his bottom lip in anticipation.

"Marshall, do you really, really, for serious feel that way about me?" Sometimes Fionna thought that Marshall didn't know when he was crossing the line with his jokes.

"I'll see you at nightfall. How about the cemetery?"

"I… I d-don't…" Fionna stuttered. Marshall floated her down the ladder and handed her the backpack.

"I'll see you then." He smiled at her, then pushed her out the door and closed it. Fionna stood there, dumbfounded, backpack in her arms. She stared at the closed door, trying to decide if that actually just happened. After about a minute, she slowly began to make her way back home, face still locked in that shocked position. She didn't even put her backpack back on. By the time Fionna got back home it was the hottest point in the day. Cake obviously wasn't very happy.

"Where were ya, girl? Gumball's been callin' all day! We were supposed to go get some more Cyclops tears today."

Fionna didn't even respond. She gently slid her backpack onto the table, clanking dishes together.

"Are you ignorin'me? Nuh-uh, I ain't takin' none of that." Fionna sat down on the nearest chair. Cake tapped her foot for a while, waiting for an answer. But Fionna didn't do anything except stare with her dumbfounded expression. Eventually Cake's impatience turned into concern. "What happened out there, girl? You okay?"

Fionna nodded slowly.

"So then what?" Cake came and sat down in the seat across the table.

"I got a date tonight." Fionna blushed.

"What!? With who?!" Cake slammed her paws down on the table in excitement.

"…Marshall Lee." Fionna blushed harder.

Cake tried to hide her disdain, and decided to trust Fionna with boys for once. "Well, what do you wanna wear?"

"I was just gonna wear this… Marshall's not really big with fancy stuff."

"At least lemme do some makeup."

"Ugggh… Fine." Fionna knew it was no use fighting her sister. Cake would find a way to get that makeup on, whether it was pleasant or not. Cake smiled.

"Just a little. You'll look fabulous, don't you worry!" Fionna smiled, too. Maybe Cake was finally getting over her sudden mistrust of Marshall.

**[ALSO I might be starting a collab Bubbline story with my friend, LyssieBee. Because I'm already doing this one, I don't know how far we'll get, but I'll try to make it half-decent. So if that's your scene, keep an eye out.]**


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